OPTIMISTS

An interviewer on one of our TV channels said Gil Hoffman is “the most optimistic man in Israel. "That’s probably the reason I read his column in the Jerusalem Post last week. Hoffman is the paper’s chief political correspondent and analyst.

“Do Israelis want their country to become a dictatorship? “Hoffman asked, “Well, a comprehensive annual study by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) found that the answer may be yes.”  He answered rhetorically. Other newsoutlets were more assertive describing the perceived trend as a definite “yes.”

According to the IDI survey 57% of Israelis want “a strong leader who will not consider the Knesset, the press or public opinion” when he or she makes decisions.

President Isaac Herzog said he is deeply troubled by the lack of confidence in state institutions. 

“There is no substitute for Israel’s democracy, and there is no substitute for its state institutions, and therefore the loss of confidence keeps me awake at night,”

Three-quarters of Arab Israelis and 44% of Jewish citizens believe that democratic rule in Israel is in jeopardy. Among Jews, a majority on the Left believe that democracy in Israel is in serious danger (63%), compared with a minority in the Centre and on the Right – 43% and 39%, respectively – who believe so.

In the same survey 42% of Jews believe they should have more rights than non-Jewish citizens, a sharp increase from recent years. The figure was only 27% in 2018. Among those who self-identify as right-wing, 57% said Jews should have more rights, compared with 28.5% among centrists and only 5% of self-proclaimed leftists.

More than half the public, 52%, believe the political affiliation of elected officials influences their treatment at the hands of the legal system, including 63% of people on the Right, 39% of centrists and 29% of left-wingers. There was a similar response when the participants in the survey were asked whether judges treat ordinary citizens who appear before them equally.

Most of those on the Right (57%) think the Supreme Court has too much power. Some 76% of Haredim and 70% of National-Religious Jews agreed, while the numbers were much lower among secular Israelis, centrists and left-wingers.

Trust in Israel’s Supreme Court has shown a steady downturn over the last few years. This year, 41% said they had confidence in the Supreme Court. Similarly, there has been a continuous decline in public trust in most other institutions – the Israel Police 33.5%, and the media 25% (down from 32% in October 2020). At the bottom of the list are the political parties with 10% and the Knesset with 21%. Trust in the government rose slightly to 27% from 25% in October 2020.

IDI President Yohanan Plesner said the picture emerging from the study regarding the public’s opinion of Israel’s legal system is cause for concern.

“The fact that we are seeing a decline in trust in the institutions of Israeli democracy is worrying,” Plesner said. “Our political leaders would be well advised to take note of this reality.”

The Israel Democracy Institute study was conducted with a random sample of 1,004 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 184 in Arabic, constituting a representative national sample of the entire adult population of Israel age 18 and older. The maximum sampling error for the entire sample was 2.9%± at a confidence level of 95%.  

The IDI is a reputable internationally respected organisation, nevertheless, random sampling can result in a less than accurate representative selection.  

Reporting on the same topic Ynet News stressed different aspects of the survey:

“For Arab Israelis, a significant increase was seen in their faith in the government and the Knesset, as the coalition for the first time now includes an Arab party — Ra'am.

The report — delivered in-person to President Isaac Herzog by the Israel Democracy Institute President Yohanan Plesner and Prof. Tamar Hermann, director of IDI's Viterbi Family Centre for Public Opinion and Policy Research — was divided into four main topics: democratic values, the legal system, trust and general satisfaction.

The annual report, in its 19th edition, revealed "a complex picture regarding the level of public trust in key institutions and officials, confidence in the country’s civil service and the overall strength of Israeli democracy," the IDI said in its summary of the survey.

In keeping with previous surveys, the IDF has the highest level of public trust, despite slipping from 90% in 2019 to 78% in 2021.

The president of Israel was next highest in the trust rankings with 58%, similar to the 56% recorded in 2020.

Though it is in third place, only a minority trust the Supreme Court, whose positive rating dropped from 42% in 2020 to 41% for 2021.

The Israel Police was in fourth place with 33.5%, the media was at 25%, and at the bottom of the list came the Knesset with 21% and political parties with 10%.

Defying the overall downward trend, the government rose to 27% compared to 25% in 2020.

While Israeli-Arabs tend to trust state institutions and officials less than their Jewish counterparts, trust levels in Israel's Arab community have risen since last year.

Roughly 36% of Israeli-Arabs polled trust the IDF and 25% trust the Knesset, up from 17.5% in 2020.

The government gained a higher rating among the community as well, with 28% compared to 14% last year.

Let’s cast aside the statistics, they can be misleading. Instead, I want to quote from an article by Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times referred to me by an old friend.

Friedman quoted Hebrew University of Jerusalem religious philosopher Moshe Halbertal: “What happened here is that there is still enough civic responsibility — not everywhere, but enough — that the political class felt that the continued breakdown of the rule of law and more elections, which was leading nowhere, was an indulgence that Israel simply could not afford, given its highly diverse population and dangerous neighborhood.”

This new Israeli government will neither annex the West Bank nor make final peace with the Palestinians, but it is one that will attempt to renew the relationship with the Palestinian Authority rather than weakening it. It is one that prevented a racist anti-Arab party allied to Netanyahu from entering the cabinet. And it is one that is counterbalancing Bibi’s strong embrace of the less-than-democratic, ultranationalist states in Europe and evangelical Christians and Trump Republicans in America by rebuilding ties with the Democrats, liberal American Jews and liberal parties in Europe.”

As Israeli leaders treat each other — and Israeli and Palestinians leaders treat each other — with a little more respect, and a little less contempt, because they are out of Facebook and into face-to-face relations again, stuff is getting done. Unity has not meant paralysis. This coalition in November passed Israel’s first national budget since 2018! So far, every attempt to topple it has failed.Mansour Abbas, the Islamist party’s leader, even recently stunned many Israeli Arabs and Jews when he publicly declared, “Israel was born a Jewish state, that was the decision of the people.” He continued: “It was born this way and it will remain this way. The question is, what is the status of the Arab citizen in the Jewish State of Israel?’’

In particular the status of Negev Bedouins needs to be regulated. It’s an old problem dating back to the Ottoman land reforms of 1858. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire it was inherited by the British Mandatory Government and in turn by the State of Israel.

Bedouin notables, members of the Abu Basma Regional Council near Dimona

Our coalition faced a crisis yesterday after Bedouins staged violent protests against tree planting on disputed land in the Negev.

The conflict over planting trees in the Negev home to Bedouin villages not recognised by the state - has divided the government.

However, Welfare Minister Meir Cohen later brokered a temporary agreement to halt the planting while representatives from the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Bedouins agreed to negotiate an amicable settlement.  

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called for halting the planting and reassessing the situation with the object of regulating Bedouin land claims in the Negev.

Optimists are hopeful that the problem will be settled once and for all.

 

Take care

 

 

Beni                                                                13^th of January, 2022