Most Israelis think their country cannot be both Jewish and democratic

Protesters pasting names of Mizrahi Jews on street signs on June 9, 2013. A quarter of Israelis think tensions between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim are high – less than half the number who think tensions between rich and poor are high. Photo by Daniel Bar-On

The Israeli Democracy Index 2014 pdf file

Highlights (The full report is not yet available in English)

By Tamar Hermann with Ella Heller, Chanan Cohen, Gilad Be’ery, Yuval Lebel, Israel Democracy Institute

February 2015

Israel’s Economy and Government

● Priorities – When respondents were asked to rank their top-ranked social-economic goal and their top-ranked security and foreign affairs goal, they
most frequently chose the social-economic goal as the top priority for the
Israeli government (37%). Within the Arab and Jewish communities, however,
there was a difference: Among Arab respondents, the most frequent response
(39%) was that both were equally important; among Jews, there was a clear
preference (41.5%) for the social-economic objective.

● Economic Security – Roughly one third (37.5%) of the total sample reported
a family income below the national average, with economic difficulties more
marked among Israel’s Arab population. Approximately one fifth (19%) of
the total sample and fully a third (33.5%) of the Arab sample stated that
they feel poor. At the same time, when asked if they were satisfied with their
family’s financial situation, respondents tended to report a moderate level of
satisfaction.

● Dealing with Poverty – A majority of respondents (55%) are unwilling to pay higher taxes to reduce income disparity, and some two thirds (65%) feel that the situation justifies another round of social protests. The common tendency (48%) is to place responsibility for the standard of living on the government. There is widespread opposition (60%) to the view that poor people are responsible for their situation and could pull themselves out of poverty if only they worked harder.

Israel scores highly on gender equality, possibly because women are equally subject to conscription – and they compare themselves with the Muslim women in surrounding countries.

● Capitalism or Socialism? – The largest group of respondents (34.5%) favours the social-democratic economic model, in which there is substantial government involvement in the economic sphere. A similar percentage (33%) advocate a mixed system. Only a minority (18.6%) favour a capitalist system, in which there is a free market with minimal government intervention.

● Confidence in Economic Bodies – For the most part, the public expresses a lack of trust toward the major players in the country’s economic-social system: the Finance Ministry (59%) and the banks (62%). In the same vein, a majority of respondents (55%) see the influence of the wealthy on government decision-making as harmful to democracy. A substantial majority (79%) think that the major labour unions in Israel (e.g. in the Electric Corporation, railways, ports, and banks) have too much power.

● Confidence in Government and State Institutions – The Israeli public has a low level of trust in state and government institutions. A decline was found in the level of trust in all institutions surveyed, as compared to the 2013 survey. The only three institutions that enjoy the trust of a majority of the Jewish public are the Israel Defence Forces (88%), the President of the State of Israel (71%), and the Supreme Court (62%). The scale of trust of Arab respondents is different from that of Jewish respondents: The Supreme Court tops the list (60%), followed by the Police (57%), the President of the State of Israel (56%), and the IDF (51%). A clear majority (60%) of the public is dissatisfied with how the government is handling national problems.

Human Rights and Civic Equality

● Freedom of Speech – The Israeli public is divided on the question of whether harsh public criticism of the State of Israel should be banned, with 46% supporting a ban of this nature and 47% opposing it.

● Human Dignity – An overall majority of Israelis (79%)—including Arab citizens, though to a lesser degree than Jews—feel that their personal human dignity is respected in their contact with official bodies. In this year’s survey, the most noteworthy institutions in this regard are the Israel Defense Forces and Israel’s hospitals.

● Civic Equality – Although nearly two thirds (63%) of Jewish respondents disagree with the statement that Jewish citizens of the state should have greater rights than non-Jewish citizens, an overwhelming majority (74%) think that crucial national decisions on matters of peace and security should be made by a Jewish majority. For a sizeable majority (61%), the same is true for decisions regarding governance, the economy, or Israel’s social structure.

The State of Israeli Society

● Social Solidarity – Generally speaking, the public perceives the level of social solidarity in Israel as quite low. The most negative responses came from people who consider themselves outside the mainstream of society: Arab respondents, respondents who identify with the left on matters of security and foreign affairs, and respondents who feel poor.

Israeli Arabs in Haifa demonstrate against Operation Cast Lead, 2009.

● Social Tensions – Despite the growing importance of the economic divide, Jewish-Arab tensions are still seen as the major fault line in Israel, with 61% of Jews and 45% of Arabs defining the level of tension between the two groups as “high” (58% of the total sample). Over half the respondents (54.5%) see the tension between rich and poor in Israel as high and 52% of respondents deem tension between religious and secular Jews to be high. With regard to other tensions, 45% consider tension between people on the right and left of the foreign affairs and security spectrum to be high, 39% define tension between ultra-Orthodox Jews and religious Zionists as high, and 24.5% define tension between Mizrahim and Ashkenazim as high.

Jewish and Democratic?

● Although the State of Israel is defined as “Jewish and democratic,” only about a quarter of the Jews surveyed ascribe equal importance to both of these components. Most of the respondents favour one of the two elements, with a slight preference for “Jewish” (39%) over “democratic” (33.5%). The proportion of those ascribing equal importance to these two components of Israel’s identity has declined steadily from 48% in 2010 to a low of 24% in the present survey.

How Does Israel Rank Internationally?

● General Findings – This year’s study of international indices revealed that Israel remains squarely positioned in the family of democratic nations. However, there is need for improvement in the following areas: preserving basic freedoms, internalizing democratic values, and raising the level of trust in the government.

● High Marks – Israel ranked in the top third of countries for gender equality (ahead of Canada, the UK, and the US) and for satisfaction with life (the same as Belgium, ahead of the US, and after Brazil).

● Low Marks – Israel ranked in the bottom third of countries with regard to civil liberties (where Israel ranked quite low, with Lebanon), civic engagement (which includes trust in the government and perceived ability to influence legislation), and political stability and absence of violence/terrorism (where Israel was ranked near Venezuela, India, and Turkey).