40%: Islamic State endangers Israel's existence; Arabs found to be significantly more satisfied than Jews.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANTel Aviv beach (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Seventy-five percent of Israelis are satisfied with their personal situation in life going into the Jewish year 5775 and only 25% are unsatisfied, according to the monthly Peace Index poll released Tuesday that is co-sponsored by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University.<br /> <br /> When asked how they thought their overall situation would change in the coming year, 45% of Jewish Israelis said they expected it to remain the same, 38% expect it to be better, and 8% expect it to be worse.<br /> <br /> Among Arab Israelis, 33% expect their overall situation to remain the same, 37% expect it to be better, and 24% to be worse.<br /> <br /> Regarding the state of the country, surprisingly, Arabs were significantly more satisfied than Jews. Fifty-two percent of Israeli Arabs are satisfied with the general situation of the country, and 42% are not satisfied.<br /> <br /> Among Jews, only 38% are satisfied with the country’s situation and 59% are not.<br /> <br /> Among the Jewish population, 35% expect the state of the state to remain the same in the coming year, 28% expect it to improve, and 24% to worsen. By contrast, 42% of the Arab public expects it to worsen in the coming year, 29% to remain the same and 21% to improve.<br /> <br /> As usual, Israelis were more satisfied with the government’s conduct on security than on the economy: 61% of Israelis were satisfied with how the government has handled security issues and only 29% are satisfied with its handling of the economy. The poll indicated 62% of Israelis have little or no trust in the Israeli leadership.<br /> <br /> Even when it comes to the party they voted for in last year’s election, 52% of Jewish Israelis and only 28% of Israeli Arabs said they were satisfied with its work. The most satisfied with the party they chose are United Torah Judaism (93%) and Meretz (80%) voters, followed by Likud-Beytenu (66%), Shas and Hatnua (56%), Bayit Yehudi (53%), and Labor (47%). The least satisfied were Yesh Atid voters, with only 40%.<br /> <br /> Following changes in the Middle East, including increased Egyptian involvement in Israeli-Palestinian contacts since Operation Protective Edge, 52% of Israelis (50% of Israeli Jews and 64% of Israeli Arabs) believe the time is right for renewing Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, and 72% of Jewish Israelis think Israel should not agree to include Hamas in talks with the Palestinians.<br /> <br /> Turning to the greater region, 55% of Israelis do not believe Islamic State endangers Israel’s existence, while 40% of Israelis believe it does.<br /> <br /> Fifty-nine percent of Israelis do not believe the US administration and American people are sufficiently resolved to fight the Islamic State until victory is achieved, though the poll was taken before American air strikes in Syria began early Tuesday morning.<br /> <br /> Regarding Operation Protective Edge, 46% of Jewish Israelis believe it did not change Israel’s national security, 27% believe it improved it, and 24% believe the operation damaged Israeli national security.<br /> <br /> When it comes to a winner of the conflict, 46% of the Jewish public believe Israel achieved more in Operation Protective Edge, 25% believe both sides had the same level of achievement, 14% believe neither side achieved anything, and 13% believe Hamas achieved more.<br /> <br /> Asked about a letter signed by reservists of the IDF’s elite intelligence unite 8200 refusing to serve “the occupation of the Palestinians,” 82% of Israeli Jews said refusal to serve based on moral concerns is unacceptable, while just 12% said it was acceptable. Of those who self identified as right-wing Israeli Jews, 90% found it unacceptable, compared to 76% of centrists and 58% of those on the left.<br /> <br /> This poll of 600 respondents who constitute a representative sample of the adult population of Israel was conducted last week, and had a margin of error of ±4.1%.
