Israelis have a very positive outlook on their lives as well as their future, a new poll shows.
The vast majority of the Israeli public, 84.5 percent, defines their personal mood as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and a similar percentage thinks that the coming Jewish year of 5778 will be at least as good as the previous year, if not better, a new poll found.
September’s Peace Index survey, conducted as the Jewish people welcomed Rosh Hashanah and the new Jewish year, examined Israeli citizens’ views on both their personal situations and the national state of affairs, in addition to expectations for the new year and other issues.
The poll found that an overwhelming majority of the Jewish public, 89 percent, described their personal mood to be either “good” or “very good.”
Among Arab Israelis, the majority, 70 percent, similarly assessed their personal mood as positive.
The general public’s position on the circumstances of the country is also positive, although less so than the personal status evaluation. 46.5 percent believe that the state’s current condition is “pretty good” or “very good,” compared with 15 percent who said the situation is “bad or “very bad.” The rest of the respondents said that the situation was “so-so.”
As for expectations for the Jewish new year, about half of the Israeli public believes that Israel’s overall situation will not change over the next year.
In all the areas examined by the Peace Index – military, security, political, diplomatic, socio-economic and differences of opinion among citizens – the majority believes that the situation in the coming year will remain unchanged.
However, the balance between those who believe that the situation will improve and those who think the situation will deteriorate varies based on specific area.
The Peace Index also reveals data which it says is “particularly conspicuous and disconcerting” – the level of tension between different societal groups. The percentage of respondents who think these tensions will worsen, 39.5 percent, far exceeds the rate of those who believe the situation will improve, 10 percent.
Eight-nine percent of the Israeli public continues to put the most amount of trust in the IDF.
Also, the latest findings indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoys the trust of 43 percent of the general public, while Labor leader Avi Gabbay, his political rival, earns the confidence of 23.5 percent of respondents.
September’s survey was conducted by Prof. Ephraim Yaar of Tel Aviv University and Prof. Tamar Hermann of the Israel Democracy Institute from July 25 to September 26, 2017, among 600 respondents from a representative national sample.
By: United with Israel Staff