According to a new survey from the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) conducted among Jewish Israelis, the IDF is seen as a skilled army that will meet its security missions. However, the public is less confident in the military's capabilities regarding social-related issues.The majority of Israelis think that IDF activities should not be limited to military operations against enemies, but that the IDF should also be responsible for other activities, such as teaching supplemental Hebrew or getting more involved in coronavirus crisis management. Some 65% of respondents want the IDF to be given coronavirus responsibilities, and 58% of Israelis think that it should be put in charge of general coronavirus lockdowns.
While 73% of Israelis believe the IDF is prepared to deal with major military threats, it seems that the public believes that the Home Front Command (HFC) will not be able to provide absolute protection for civilians in the face of a military attack, with only 39% thinking that civilians will be protected in case of a widespread military attack, the study showed.
Some 60% of Israelis think that the professional recommendations of IDF senior commanders are not necessarily influenced by considerations that are of a military nature but are rather political, economic or humanitarian.
Additionally, 72.5% of Israelis trust IDF senior commanders’ professionalism, with some variations between the political camps. Some 65% trust the professionalism of lower level commanders.
Some 64% of Israelis consider the IDF Spokesperson's Unit a reliable source of information, except regarding two main issues: the number of ultra-Orthodox recruited, which only 32% trust, and suicide rates among soldiers, which only 38% trust.
Economically speaking, only 34.5% of Jewish Israelis think that the IDF's economic management is efficient, while 51% don't, among which a large majority (60%) identify with the political Left and center, while only 47% of supporters of the Right feel this way.
When it comes to equality between men and women, only 43% of respondents think that the IDF affords women equal opportunity to men to fulfill their personal potential – 50% among men and 36% among women.
Finally, on religious equality, 46% of Jewish Israelis think the IDF affords religious and secular soldiers equal opportunities to fulfill their personal potential, with only 22% among the ultra-Orthodox, 38% of National-Religious and 48% of secular Jews agreeing with this statement.
The survey was prepared by the Center for National Security and Democracy and Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute ahead of the annual conference of the Center for National Security and Democracy to be held on November 24-25th. In the survey, which was conducted over the Internet and by telephone from September 13-16, 1,012 men and women were interviewed in Hebrew, comprising a representative national sample of the Jewish adult population of Israel aged 18 and older.