Will Trump’s Peace Plan Gain Traction?
The monthly Peace Index of the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, published today (Monday), finds that 74% of Israelis think Trump’s peace plan is doomed to fail. This is in spite of the fact that the majority of the pubic believes that Trump supports Israel’s best interests; 83% of Israeli Jews think that the IDF should shoot directly at ‘terror kite’ assailants on the Gaza border.
Main findings;
Trump’s Peace Plan: Although Trump’s peace plan has not yet been revealed 74% of Israelis think that it will not gain traction. Nevertheless 77% of the public believe that Trump supports Israel’s interests. 74% of Israelis think that Trump’s peace plan will not gain traction. Nevertheless 77% of the public believe that Trump supports Israel’s best interests.
Terror Kites: 83% of Israeli Jews think that the IDF should shoot directly at ‘terror kite’ assailants, and 57% think that the IDF is doing a good job in dealing with Palestinian attacks on the Gaza border. On the other hand 87% of Israeli Arabs think that the IDF must not shoot directly at ‘terror kite’ assailants, and 79% of Israeli Arabs think that both the IDF and the government are failing to deal with the situation.
Ultra-Orthodox Military Draft: 63% of the Israeli public (70% among Jews, 27% among Arabs) support drafting the ultra-Orthodox to the IDF. 45% think that only a select few ultra-Orthodox scholars should be exempt from military service to continue with their studies, while the rest should enlist in the army at the age of 18, as is the norm. Less than 25% support drafting the ultra-Orthodox at 23 years of age, after completing a few additional years of studying in Yeshiva (seminary). Only 18% think that the situation should remain as it is now (most of the ultra-Orthodox public do not serve in the IDF).
Professional Army: 59% of the Israeli public think that the IDF is still the “People’s Army” (2/3 of Israeli Jews and 17% of Israeli Arabs). Nevertheless, 39.5% of Israeli Jews think that mandatory draft should be abolished, and the IDF should transition to a professional army. 49% oppose this idea. Only 33% of religious Jews and 31% of secular Jews support the idea of a professional army, and surprisingly 40% of traditional Jews. Among the ultra-Orthodox, 80% support the idea of a professional army.
Prime Ministers’ wife's Indictment on Grounds of Fraud and Breach of Trust: 47.5% of the Israeli public think that the Prime Minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, should be indicted, while 32.5% think that she and her family are being hounded by the press. The majority of Israelis (55%) believe that the Prime Minister was aware of his wife’s actions (misusing public funds for catering services) while 28% believe that he did not.
The survey conducted on June 26-28, 2018, included 600 respondents, who constitute a representative national sample of the adult population of Israel aged 18 and over. The maximum measurement error for the entire sample is ±4.1% at a confidence level of 95%.
To read the the full Peace Index