Volunteers at the distribution center at the Ihud Shivet Zion/Relationship Synagogue
Only about a fifth of Israelis assess Israel's situation as good or very good - according to the Democracy Index for 2023, published today (Thursday), led by the Israel Democracy Institute.
The index, conducted for the 21st year in a row, paints a complex picture of the public's assessment of the robustness of Israeli democracy, the degree of trust in state institutions and the internal cohesion of society - this is in light of the expectation that the events of October and the Iron Swords War will greatly influence public opinion in Israel.
The index was conducted in June 2023 and at the beginning of 2024 some of the questions were repeated.
In the two measurements carried out, led by Prof. Tamar Herman, and with the assistance of Dr. Or Inabi, Yaron Kaplan and Ina Orli Spozhnikov, it was found as mentioned that about 21% of Israelis assess Israel's situation as good or very good. However, in a cross-section of political camps , on the left there is a real decrease in the percentage of those who assess Israel's situation as bad (73% in June compared to 65% in December), in the center there was a slight decrease (54% in June compared to 51% in December) and on the right there was no change (31% in both measurements)
. In June, 18% assessed Israel's situation as good or very good, while in December their rate dropped to only 9%.
The soldiers are most trusted.
IDF/spokesman of the IDF
The IDF, Police and the Government of Israel - Public Trust in State Institutions:
As a general rule, the level of trust in most state institutions remains essentially unchanged between the two measurements - this is mainly in the ranking between the institutions, but also in the proportion of citizens who give trust.
However, on average, trust in December is slightly higher than in June.
The IDF receives the highest rate of trust, with an average of 86%. In second place are the local authorities with 55% in June and 64% in December. And in third place is the President of the State, who received 54% trust in June and 61% in December.
The main change took place In the position of the police, which greatly improved due to the performance of the police on October 7 and in the first days of the war. As part of the worsening criticism of the political echelon, and in contrast to the increase we found in most other institutions, there is a noticeable decrease in the levels of trust in the government and the Knesset - the government dropped from 28% trust to 23% , and the Knesset dropped from 24% to 19%. (I) Trust in the parties remained almost the same.
The trust of the Arab public in institutions, as before, is lower than that of the Jewish public. However, here the level of trust in state institutions rose sharply in the December measurement. This may have been due to For fear of expressing a critical position during a war. For example, an unprecedented and surprising increase in trust in the IDF from 21% in June to 44% in December or as a result of the increase in the sense of belonging to Israeliness.
In both measurements, the Supreme Court is at the top of the trust scale with 26% in June and 53% trust in December.
At the bottom, in the Arab public as in the Jewish public - are the political institutions, but here in two of them there was an increase - the Knesset increased from 18% to 28%, and the parties from 15% to 25%.
Trust in the government remains the same.
A natural solution
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Wins the trust of the Arab public.
The Supreme Court/Reuven Castro
A sharp rise after a downturn: solidarity in Israeli society
After a low point in the level of solidarity in Israeli society with a score of 4.4 (on a scale between 1 and 10) in June, at the height of the protest against the legal reform - after the events of October 7, there was a sharp increase in the Jewish public's assessment of solidarity in Israeli society in general.
The grade in October reached 7.2 and after that it dropped slightly to 6.7 in December.
The decline in December is most likely due to the renewed prominence of internal tensions.
The changes in the assessment of solidarity were felt in all Jewish political camps, on the left from June 3.5 to October 7.5 and December 6.9, in the center from June 4 to October 7.1 and December 6.9, and on the right (from June 4.8 to October 7.2 and December 6.6
Among Arab society, there was also a significant increase in the assessment of the sense of solidarity in Israeli society, from 3.6 in June, to 4.8 in October and again to 5.2 in December
.
The solidarity is sharp.
Ultra-Orthodox volunteers and make soldiers happy/surfing photos, Eitan Elhadez
The scale of tensions: right and left, Arabs and Jews, religious and secular
In the Jewish public, at the top of the tension scale is the tension between the right and the left with no significant change between the June and December measurements - 43% and 46% respectively.
It is followed by the tension between Jews and Arabs with 31.5%, which was at the top of the tension scale in the previous years.
The tension between religious and secular people is reduced by about half in the current measurement, from 19% to 9%.
On this issue, differences are evident between the Jewish political camps on the left - the proportion of those who believe that the main tension is between the right and the left decreased from 51% in June to 45% in December.
On the other hand, on the right, an increase was measured from 42% in June to 48.5% in December.
Whereas in the center, the proportion of those who evaluate this as the central tension remains unchanged, in both measurements 44%.
As before, among the Arab public the tension between Jews and Arabs is at the top of the tension scale - in June with 53% and in December with 47.5%.
The tension between religious and secular people is reduced by about half in the current measurement, from 19% to 9%/Official website, Itai Ron
All the questions - and what did the public answer?
In the question "If you have the opportunity to get American citizenship or the citizenship of another country in the West, would you prefer to move and live there or would you prefer to stay and live in Israel?".
Among Jews, during the war there was an increase, compared to June 2023, in the proportion of those who prefer to remain in Israel - from 70% to 80.5%.
Among the Arabs, this rate remained stable at 62% and 59%.
Also, in the question "Is the democratic government in serious danger?", it was found that about 51% of the entire Israeli public believed in December that the democratic government in Israel is in serious danger, which is a certain decrease from the 58.5% who thought so in June.
In examining the national consensus, it was found that in the Jewish public there was a slight increase in the proportion of those who believe that there is currently a common set of values and agreements for the Israeli public - from 31% in June to 43% in January 2024. Segmented by political camps, in the three camps there was an increase from June 2023 to January 2024 in the proportion of those who believe Because there is a common set of values and agreements, with the sharpest increase occurring in the center (left: from 18% to 24.5%, center: from 22% to 42%, right: from 38% to 49%). , in the Arab public, the proportion of those who believe this has been cut in half, from 52% in June to 25% in January.
On the way to a "new political-social contract"?
In June, at the height of the tension surrounding the legal reform, only a quarter of the entire sample estimated that there was a high chance of creating a "new contract".
In January 2024, there was a certain increase in the proportion of those who appraised it as follows: from 25% to 35% when it comes to a new contract between the citizens and the government (although it is still a minority), and from 26% to 43%, a very significant increase, when it comes to a new contract between the groups diversity in society.
On the way to a "new political-social contract"?
Demonstrations for elections/official website, use according to Article 27A of the Copyright Law
The Israeli public is connected to the state, but not satisfied
Comments
Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, said: "The great rupture that we all experienced on the seventh of October is reflected in this year's democracy index data. The public places great trust in the IDF and its commanders, who demonstrate personal example, courage and commitment in fighting in all sectors.
The local government and the police also register a jump in the public trust index, and besides, the evident lack of trust in the government and the Knesset is very noticeable - less than a quarter of the public trusts their elected officials.
This figure is not surprising in light of the dysfunction and exhaustion of state institutions at the beginning of the war.
The measured increase in the sense of solidarity in Israeli society is related to the widespread engagement and scope of civilian volunteerism against the background of the war.
This figure is particularly encouraging against the backdrop of the decline in social solidarity that we experienced last summer while attempting to promote the coup d'état."
According to Pelsner, "restoring trust in institutions at the national level is possible, but for that the public will have to be convinced that the national leadership is acting out of a desire to unite society while setting an example Personally, like the one we saw on the battlefield."
Prof. Tamar Herman, director of the Institute's Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, added: "The Israeli public in its various groups is not satisfied (to put it mildly) with the functioning of the political system in Israel, when the gaps between the groups are widening.
Even the events of October 7 and the war, which at first were seen as unifying events ("Together we will win") turn out today to have little effect on the depth of the internal divisions that have long existed.
However, despite the strong criticism of the leadership, the Israeli public is very committed to the country and society, and only a few would prefer to move to live in other parts of the world."
More on the same topic:
The Israel Institute for Democracy
The democracy index
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Israel
The Israeli Community
The Arabic Community