Other findings show Israelis oppose the planned state ceremony to commemorate October 7, amidst a further decline in the assessment of the state’s security and economic strength.
The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) has today, Sunday, published its monthly index examining public perceptions on various topics in Israeli society relating to the public’s trust in the nation’s leadership, management of the ongoing war, issues pertaining to religion and state, among other key topics.
The survey released today notes ongoing tensions and frustration around the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment into the IDF, with 58% of the Jewish public supporting the decision to cut funding for daycare centers for Haredi families obligated to enlist yet failed to do so. This policy marked an increase in the sanctions against those avoiding the draft, added to the withdrawal of funding for the institutions where such students were registered.
The survey also notes that about half of the Jewish public in Israel believes that the IDF is moving too slowly in drafting yeshiva students after the court ruled that they must enlist, and a large majority of secular Jews (72%) believes that pressure and sanctions should be increased on those who do not enlist. Of the ultra-Orthodox respondents to the survey, 80% believe that young Haredim cannot be forcibly drafted.
On other issues, the survey shows that there has been a slight increase in the number of Israelis who believe that Israel will win the war compared to previous months (40%), though the figures are still lower than those recorded during the early months of the war. A narrow majority of Jewish Israelis (51%) support launching a war against Hezbollah as soon as possible, while the same figure of Israelis across society would support a deal that would see the hostages returned – even if it involved significant Israeli concessions.
In other finding’s, most Israelis oppose a state ceremony to commemorate October 7*, with the majority of opponents citing that the war is not yet over. Most respondents indicated that they do not intend to watch the ceremony. At the same time, less than a third of Israelis express a high or relatively high level of trust in the government, with a significant portion of the public having low trust in the government: 68% who have low trust
Only a third of Israelis believe that the Prime Minister’s stance on the hostage deal is based on “security, humanitarian, and diplomatic considerations.” Close to half of Israelis (45%) believe the Prime Minister’s decisions are primarily motivated by “political gain.”
The data was collected through the Index website panel (747 Jewish respondents, via an online survey) and Afkar (203 Arab respondents, half via an online questionnaire and half via telephone interviews). The data were analyzed and weighted according to voting patterns and religiosity to represent the adult population in Israel. The JPPI Israeli Society Index is authored by Shmuel Rosner and Noah Slepkov, with statistical advice from Prof. David Steinberg.