Trust in the institutions of government is clearly non-political, should be blind or slightly affected by political bias • The picture from the Democracy Index shows that statehood has been lost • Opinion
The "Democracy Index" of the Israel Democracy Institute, which is published today, presents us with a black mirror.
The more right-wing and religious you are, the less your trust in the central institutions of the state.
This reality is not new, but the corona has accelerated the processes, and in almost all parameters, it has led to a decline in public trust in general, and right-wing public trust in particular in a number of government institutions.
Along with the social gaps, which the general public agrees are widening, we are facing a significant crisis.
The ability of state institutions to function is not nurtured by their enforcement power but by the trust the public places in them.
A company's ability to survive depends on solidarity.
The soon-to-be-elected government will need not only to rehabilitate the economy, but perhaps most importantly the confidence of the entire public in it.
The law to dissolve the Knesset was approved on preliminary reading // Archive photo: Knesset channel
Confidence in institutions that are clearly non-political should be blind or slightly affected by political bias.
These institutions are supposed to operate in a state way, one that will lead the general public to believe that they are serving it, in an egalitarian and matter-of-fact way.
The picture that emerges from the democracy index shows that this stateliness has been lost.
Even the institutions that are supposed to be perceived in a revised state as working for the people, and not for ideological, right-wing or left-wing views, are painted in the eyes of the right-wing public in bright political colors.
For example (the data refer to the Jewish public), the Supreme Court, the core of Israeli democracy, enjoys the meager trust of 52% of the general public, but on the right it receives only 38% and among religious and ultra-Orthodox it enjoys low to almost zero trust (20% and - 7% respectively);
The police, a very important player in the Corona period and in general, gain only 44% trust, but among the religious public a little less trust (43%) and among the ultra-Orthodox with very little trust (17%);
The attorney general, who also serves as the head of the prosecution system, was also tried to tribe by the right.
While in the general public he enjoys the trust of 42%, in the right only 33% trust, and among the ultra-Orthodox about half of it (15%);
The president, who has previously won widespread trust (up to 80%), is also losing, it seems, his state status.
In the general public he wins only 63%, but when it comes to the right - trust in him is lower and stands at 56%;
Finally, the media, a non-institutional but central player in any democracy, enjoys lower trust from the general public (33%) but even lower trust from the right (21%).
After all this, lucky to have the IDF. This is the only significant state factor that still gains significant trust here (82%) and remains a consensus between right and left.
The Corona has not done well with Israeli society either.
39% of Israelis believe that the tension between right and left is the most significant rift in Israeli society.
58% of Israelis believe that the corona has also exacerbated the rift between the ultra-Orthodox and the rest of society.
For many Israelis (28%), the Jewish-Arab rift also remained significant.
Surprisingly, the feeling of Israeli solidarity did not diminish and perhaps this is the only good news among all this data.
More than this picture does not flatter the institutions of government, it threatens the ability of the most vital institutions of Israeli democracy to function.
Being suspected in the eyes of a significant part of the public of ideological bias, makes them in the eyes of many Israelis from state institutions more actors in the political mud arena.
This situation, together with the severe social divisions in Israel, exacerbated by the corona, pose a significant challenge to all of us.
How did we get this far?
The left will blame Bibi.
Right the institutions of government that strayed from the path.
But when the situation is so unbalanced, it is clear that the blame lies with both.
There is no doubt that the trial of the Prime Minister, who is making every effort to portray him as a political matter, has led to a erosion of trust in these institutions.
But at the same time, it seems that the public servants who work in them are not exempt from responsibility either.
In a series of statements, decisions and rulings given in recent years, it is possible to point to more distinct ideological and value traces that do not characterize the right in Israel.
Either way, the government that is formed, whatever it is, will have to work to restore the trust of the general public in the state institutions, so that they can serve, and state-wise, all of us.