Coronavirus Special Survey

Special Coronavirus survey by the Israel Democracy Institute takes the Israeli pulse on the impact of the Coronavirus finds that 40% of Israelis feel they are experiencing high levels of stress and 65% are worried about their financial future.

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A special Coronavirus survey by the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, examined the levels of stress among Israelis, generated by the Coronavirus pandemic, and found that most Israelis are worried about their financial future, but believe that Israeli society will be able to recover from the crisis.

Finding Highlights

Stress Index - 40% of Israelis are experiencing high levels of stress these days, compared to 30% who reported that they are not, and 29% who reported being moderately stressed. On a scale of 1-10, the mean stress level among the Jewish public is currently at 5.47, while among the Arab public- 6.46. Women experience slightly more stress (mean=5.88) than men (mean=5.39).

Worries about the future financial situation - 65% of Israelis are worried about their financial situation in the foreseeable future, with concern among Arab Israelis being higher than that among Jews (78% and 62%, respectively). Stress about finances was most prevalent among the 35-44 age group (75%) followed by the 25-34 age group (70%).

71% of those whose income is below the average income (NIS 9,500 for individuals and NIS 21,000 for a family) expressed concern with regard to their economic future; 66% among those with average income, and , and half (50%) of those with above-average incomes.

67% of Israelis are optimistic and 26.5% are pessimistic, about the capacity of Israeli society to recover from the crisis.

Concern about personal financial situation in the future, by age (%, general public)

Confidence in government professional leadership - 63% of Israelis trust government health professionals to deal with the coronavirus, compared to 48% who trust the government financial professionals. Public confidence in Prime Minister Netanyahu is relatively high, (56%), - clearly higher than public confidence in the Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz (28 %).

Trust in Political and Professional Leadership (%, Jews & Arabs)

The survey Israel in the Time of Coronavirus is a project of the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research of the Israel Democracy Institute. In the survey, which was conducted on the internet and by telephone (supplements of groups that are not sufficiently represented on the network) from March 29 to March 30 2020, 612 men and women were interviewed in Hebrew and 151 in Arabic, constituting a representative national sample of the entire adult population of Israel aged 18 and older. The maximum sampling error for the entire sample was 3.7%± at a confidence level of 95%. The fieldwork was done by the Rafi Smith Institute under the direction of Rafi Smith. For the full data file see: Data Israel.