IPSOD First Wave Preliminary Results

Israelis have the most trust in the scientific community and the IDF. They trust the Knesset and religious councils the least.

A sample of 1006 Israelis, representative of the Jewish population in Israel, were asked to rank their level of confidence in 13 national institutions in a survey conducted by the polling firm Dahaf on behalf of the Jerusalem Institute of Market Studies (JIMS). Respondents were requested to give a score from one to seven, where seven denotes total confidence and one denotes total mistrust.

The scientific community received the highest score of 5.8, very close to the army, which obtained a score of 5.7. The medical community also scored relatively well with a 5. 2. The three lowest scores went to government (3.4), the Knesset (3.2) and religious councils (3.1). Big companies, and banks and financial institutions received a score of 4.4 and 4.2 respectively, putting them ahead of the education system (3.9) and the labor unions (3.7). Television scored better than the media in general with a score of 4.5. The media received a score of only 4.

The mistrust in the political establishment and governmental institutions is also evident in responses to additional related questions in the survey.

Interviewees were asked if they agreed with the following statement: "People we elect to the Knesset try to keep the promises they have made during the election campaign." A total of 67% disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement; a mere 4% strongly agreed.

Following the same line of questioning, the survey asked if Most government administrators can be trusted to do what is best for the country. Again, a strong majority (60.3%) of Israelis disagreed. In fact, Israelis feel that even a trustworthy politician cannot achieve much in the political sphere, and cannot work efficiently for the benefit of the people - 70% of Israelis agreed that "the best politician cannot have an impact because of the way the government works in Israel." In what likely seems to be an election year, it is perhaps even more worrisome that Israelis overwhelming feel that governmental bodies are almost completely detached from the general populations wants and needs. When asked Do you feel that the people running the country don't really care about what happens to you? 80.5% of respondents agreed with this statement. Another 68.7% feel that the people running the country are out of touch with the rest of the country. On a more positive note, and despite the overall disaffection of the population, Israelis still cling to a general belief in the power of democracy; 61% agreed that Elections are a good way of making governments pay attention to what the people want.