The latest annual survey, entitled "2007 Israeli Democracy Index: Cohesiveness in a Divided Society", finds that the proportion of those who are unhappy with Israel's democracy jumped by 12 percentage points over last year.
In general, the survey finds that Israelis are not proud of the way their country works - but do not want to leave, and are willing to fight for it if necessary.
Among the findings:
- 79% of those interviewed say they are concerned with the current situation in Israel.
- 86% state that the government is not dealing adequately with the country’s problems. Only 29% give credence to statements issued by the political echelon regarding Israel’s security.
- 70% agree that politicians tend not to take the average citizen’s opinion into account, and 68% believe that the people running the country are motivated by personal interests rather than the public good.
- Despite the above, 76% of Israeli citizens are proud to be Israeli, despite the current atmosphere, and 80% of Israelis want or seriously intend to continue living in Israel in the long term. Most Israelis deeply identify with the state and the problems that it faces, and are prepared to fight for their country should the need arise.
- Support for a "strong leader" is up. Those who agree that a few strong leaders would prove more useful to the state than all of the discussions held and laws passed now number 69%, compared to 60% last year.
- 75% of the respondents believe that there is a great deal of corruption in Israel.
Regarding Jewish-Arab relations, 87% rated Jewish-Arab relations in Israel as poor or very poor. Both Jewish and Arab respondents stated that they find it difficult to trust each other; 73% expressed the belief that the other side tends to behave violently.
Significantly, the report did not provide the breakdown of how many Jews felt Arabs are violent, and how many Arabs feel that way about Jews.
Trust in Government - Down
The authors of the report feel that its most conspicuous finding is a 22% decline in the level of trust shown by the public in the Prime Minister – 21% now, compared to 43% a year ago. However, trust in all government bodies dropped: Trust in the Supreme Court dropped to 61%, compared to 68% last year; the police - 41% (44% last year), IDF - 74% (79% last year), Knesset - 74% (79% last year), and the government - 31% (39% last year). Trust in the media stayed basically the same, at 45%, compared to 44% last year. Trust in the President plunged drastically from 67% to 22% - an unsurprising finding, given the accusations against President Moshe Katzav.
The Supreme Court is perceived by 39% of the public as the institution that most effectively safeguards democracy, followed by the media at 34%, the Prime Minister at 14%, and the Knesset at 13%. A significant increase was registered in the degree of trust placed in the media as a means to safeguard democracy – from 25% to 34%.
The survey also found that 59% of those interviewed stated that they favor a socialist-economic approach over capitalism.
The Democracy Index is produced by IDI's Guttman Institute, by Yael Hadar and Nir Atmor under the direction of Professor Asher Arian. The Index includes data from a public opinion survey based on a representative sample of 1,203 interviewees in three languages, conducted by Machshov as well as assessments and comparative data from international research institutes.