A majority of the public (65%) thinks that there has been a negative change in the situation in the areas of internal security, governance and personal security in Israel since the current government took office. This is according to a recent survey by the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, among a representative sample of the adult population in Israel.
The survey was conducted in September 2023, by Dialogue. An online panel interviewed 801 respondents who constitute a nationally representative sample of the adult population (ages 18+) in Israel.
The violence does not stop: two injured in a fight between Eritreans in Netanya // Photo: Shmuel Buchris, Dan Asulin
The data also show that following the deterioration in the situation of violence in Israel, 54% of those surveyed believe that the police should be allowed to use administrative tools, such as administrative detention (41% of the Arab public, 57% of the Jewish public). National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is demanding the court's authority to issue such orders, but he claims that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is stopping this.
The performance of the government, the police, the State Prosecutor's Office, and the court system in dealing with the challenges of internal security, crime, and governance received low scores (47-34 on a scale of 100-0). No significant differences were found between the attitudes of the Jewish and Arab populations on this issue.
According to the Misgav Institute, "This reality has severe consequences, both nationally and individually, from the loss of a sense of personal security and disruption in the ability of citizens to maintain a normal routine, to damage to the image of the State of Israel in the international community and the creation of a basis for claims against it of discrimination and deliberate neglect; From the collective economic damage to the relegation of young people to the ranks of criminal organizations in the absence of any other state framework that provides them with protection and protection."
The institute also noted that "the police are aware of their expectations to provide immediate responses and are not indifferent to them. It initiates and invests great efforts, but the challenge has reached dimensions that cannot be addressed only in the existing frameworks and the routine tools at its disposal. This is the background to the proposals made regarding deepening the involvement of the Shin Bet – which is already taking place and is being felt, and regarding the granting of powers to the police to carry out administrative detentions among criminal elements as well.
"At the last meeting held by the Ministerial Committee for Combating Crime in Arab Society, headed by the Prime Minister, it was decided to appoint Attorney Roi Kahlon as a projector to head the staff on this issue. This is a necessary step in order to integrate the efforts and assist in the work of the Bureau, but in light of the harsh reality, there is no escape from the fact that the Prime Minister personally will lead the efforts. This is required not only because of the declarative message involved, but in order to ensure the personal involvement of all ministers and authorities, in order to integrate bodies and mechanisms directly subordinate to the prime minister and to expedite the inter-ministerial processes of decision-making.
"A holistic, comprehensive and systematic action plan is required, to which all parties in the campaign will be committed. Clear quantitative targets will be set and timetables will be set for achieving them, with ongoing supervision by the prime minister and full transparency to the public in order to renew its confidence and regain its trust."
"To integrate bodies and mechanisms directly subordinate to the prime minister." Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu (archive), photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Meir Ben-Shabbat, head of Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and former head of the National Security Council, and Ruthie Pines Feldman, a research fellow at the institute, said in response to the data: "A growing segment of the public feels that the state is not fulfilling its most basic duty to it: protecting life. The police initiate and act, but the existing frameworks and tools are not enough. Given the scale of the phenomenon and the need to combine arms and ministries, it is essential that the prime minister lead the efforts at the national level."
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