The survey conducted shows that 55% of the Israeli public express distrust in the senior command of the IDF. It also shows that the majority of the public supports the High Court's decision to recruit the ultra-Orthodox while 49% support forced recruitment.
According to a survey conducted by the Jewish People's Policy Institute (JPPI) as part of the Israeli Society Index for the month of July, for the first time since the outbreak of war, the majority of the public (55%) expresses distrust in the IDF's senior leadership.
The decline is particularly sharp among right-wing supporters, with eight out of ten expressing distrust in the senior command. In contrast, among Jews who define themselves as "centre", two out of three have high or very high trust in the IDF's high command.
At the same time, trust in the government and the prime minister continues to be very low: only 26% express trust in the government compared to 73% who stated that their level of trust in the government is low or quite low. The level of trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained low throughout the months of the crisis, and remained so in July as well. 27% of the respondents said that their level of trust in Benjamin Netanyahu remains high or quite high, compared to 71% who said that their level of trust is very low or quite low.
A significant majority supports the High Court's decision to recruit the ultra-Orthodox, 49% support any way including coercion.
As for the question of conscription of the ultra-Orthodox, a significant majority of the Jewish public (63%) supports the High Court decision requiring the conscription of ultra-Orthodox youth into the IDF, compared to 31% who oppose the decision. The support is particularly high among the secular (82%) and traditional (62%), but decreases significantly among the religious (38%) and the ultra-orthodox (12%)
On another question, 49% of Jews believe that the unequal situation should be corrected "by any means, including coercion", while 31% support correcting the situation "through persuasion and gradually". Only 11% believe that the status quo should be maintained.
Among the ultra-Orthodox public, there is strong opposition to conscription into the IDF. 82% of the ultra-Orthodox oppose the High Court decision requiring the conscription of ultra-Orthodox youth, and only 12% support it. Also, 48% of the ultra-Orthodox believe that the current situation of being exempt from conscription for yeshiva candidates is "the desired situation and this arrangement should be maintained for the sake of Torah learning." Only 10% of the ultra-orthodox support correcting the situation in any way, including coercion.
Most Israelis are concerned about Israel's security situation
The index also found that 86% of Israelis are very worried or quite worried about Israel's security situation. The concern is especially high among the voters of the centre and the left, but significant concern is also evident on the right. Among the Arabs, the rate of those who are very worried or quite worried is even higher and stands at 90%. Only 14% of the general public are not worried about the security situation. At the same time, 73% of the public also express concern about Israel's economic situation, with 37% very worried and 36% somewhat worried.
The July index shows that a majority of right-wing voters (54%) support full civilian and security control of Israel in the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, among all Jews, the majority are not interested in Israeli civilian control of Gaza after the end of the war. 35% of Jews support civilian rule by Palestinian elements and Arab states in Gaza with Israel's security responsibility.
As for confronting Hezbollah on the northern border, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of supporters of an Israeli attack in Lebanon, from 62% in March to 56% in July among the Jewish public. Of these, 35% support an immediate attack, and 21% support an attack after the end of the operation in Gaza. At the same time, there was a small increase in support for a political settlement, from 34% to 37%. Among the Arabs, 67% support a political arrangement. The disparities between the voters of the various parties are striking: 45% of Likud voters and 60% of Shas and religious Zionist voters support an immediate attack, while the majority of centre and left voters prefer a political solution.
