This year as in previous years the survey opened with a question regarding the respondents’ sense of comfort: the degree to which they feel comfortable being themselves in Israel.
Responses to this question are routinely influenced by Israel’s social-political situation, and that is certainly evident in this year’s survey. In light of the changing political balance of power and the raging conflict between coalition supporters and opponents on a variety of issues, there has been a clear decline in the comfort level of centrist and left-leaning Israelis and a contrasting rise (if more moderate) in the comfort level of right-leaning Israelis. Arab Israelis exhibited some decline in their comfort level and a rise in their sense of discomfort compared with last year. This year evinces the continuation of a trend that emerged three years ago: an overall decline in the sense of comfort within both the Jewish and Arab populations.
