High Levels of Trust in IDF More than One Year Into the War, Except Among Ultra-Orthodox and Arab Israelis

A special survey assessing public opinion on matters of national security, presented at IDI's annual conference on Security and Democracy. The survey found support for a mandatory draft, and significant economic penalties for those who do not serve.

Watch the livestream and see the conference program

Photo by: Michael Giladi/Flash90

The Center for Security and Democracy and the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute conducted a special survey assessing public opinion on matters of national security and found that trust in the IDF remains high among Jewish Israelis as the war continues. The survey also found that support for the mandatory draft, as opposed to an all-volunteer force, has increased to its highest rate in almost a decade; Israelis are in favor of significant economic penalties for those who do not serve; and an overwhelming majority of Jewish Israelis oppose restrictions on women serving in the IDF.

The survey was presented today at IDI's annual conference on Security and Democracy. Speakers include former senior IDF officials, academic experts, and former Prime Ministers Yair Lapid and Ehud Olmert, Former Chief of Staff Lt. General (Res.) MK Gadi Eisenkot (National Unity Party), MK Ariel Kellner (Likud), and renowned international law expert Prof. Malcolm Shaw, who represents Israel in proceedings before the ICJ.

Survey Highlights:

Only 37% of Jewish Israelis and 22% of Arab Israelis think that decisions made by the political leadership regarding the war are mainly guided by professional considerations.

Sharp decline in the percent of Israelis who think the IDF should switch from a mandatory conscription model to a professional, volunteer-based model (from 47% in 2022 to 27% in 2024).

Overwhelming majority (76%) of Jewish Israelis are against the idea of restricting women’s military service (roles, locations etc.) for the purpose of facilitating Haredi integration into the IDF.

Selected highlights:

High public trust in IDF maintained, but doubts expressed about the senior command

Despite the events of October 7^th and the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, the IDF has maintained a relatively high level of public trust. This achievement has been evident throughout the war, with the exception of a single measurement that showed a significant drop in trust at a time when the war became bogged down and the hostages had not been returned. With the launch of the offensive campaign in Lebanon in late September (when this survey was conducted), public support for the IDF was renewed.

There is a high level of trust in the IDF throughout the Jewish public in Israel, with the only outlier being the Haredi population: Only 52% of Haredim say they trust the IDF very much or quite a lot, while around 40% rate their level of trust in the IDF as low or non-existent.

Trust the IDF 2003–2024 (Jews and Arabs; %)

Despite the continued high level of overall public trust in the IDF, there are some doubts among the Jewish public about the senior command, which received a 66.5% trust rating from Jewish respondents. Among Israelis on the Right, only 62% express trust in the senior IDF command, while the level of trust among religious respondents (not including Haredim) and traditional religious is just 55.5% and 56.5%, accordingly.

Trust the IDF senior command (Jews and Arabs; %)

Low levels of trust that decisions of political leadership regarding the war are guided by professional considerations.

Only 37% of Jews and 22% of Arabs think that professional considerations hold sway over decision-making by political leaders. Unsurprisingly, there are sizable differences of opinion on this issue between the political camps.

Trust very much or quite a lot that decisions made by the political leadership regarding the war are mainly guided by professional considerations (Jews, by political orientation; %)

It is worth noting that while around half of those on the Right think that decision-making regarding the war is guided by professional considerations, a sizable minority (41%) hold that the opposite is true.

Sizable change in public opinion regarding the IDF conscription model

Previous years have seen a consistent rise in the share of (Jewish) respondents who support ending mandatory military conscription and transforming the IDF into an all-volunteer force. This has changed dramatically in the current survey. Support for a shift to a professional army has fallen to 27% (from a high of 47% in 2022), while opposition to this idea has climbed sharply to 62%. Presumably, this change is the result of conclusions drawn from the events of the past year, that the only way to provide the necessary personnel for the IDF is via mandatory conscription.

The only group in the Jewish public in which support for changing the conscription model is stronger than opposition to such a move are the ultra-Orthodox—46% of whom support changing the model to a professional military, while 36% oppose it.

Agree/disagree with canceling mandatory conscription and making the IDF a professional army (Jews; %)

Haredi conscription

One issue that is currently the subject of much public debate is the conscription of Haredim into the IDF. A possible result of Haredi conscription might be the restriction of women’s service in certain roles in the IDF. We asked: “To what extent do you agree or disagree that in order to facilitate the integration of Haredim into the IDF, it is reasonable to restrict women’s military service in terms of roles, locations, and advancement opportunities?” Some 76% of Jews said that they disagree with this idea (somewhat disagree or strongly disagree). This large majority of opposition to restrictions on women’s military service spans the entire political spectrum, and even in the national religious public, 62% disagree with such restrictions.

Do you agree or disagree that in order to facilitate the integration of Haredim into the IDF, it is reasonable to restrict women’s military service in terms of roles, locations, and advancement opportunities? (Jews; %)

This finding would seem to stand in contrast to the IDF’s plans to create a “Haredi brigade” in which women will not be allowed to serve, or to establish separate bases for Haredi soldiers. In any case, the survey findings would seem to reflect widespread support for protecting women’s status in the IDF.

Economic penalties against those who do not enlist

In recent weeks, public debate has centered on the extent of penalties that should be enforced against those who do not enlist in the military. We asked our respondents about two possibilities that have not yet been extensively discussed in the public and political arenas—higher taxation for those who do not serve, and giving priority to IDF reservists when hiring for jobs in the public sector. Both proposals received considerable majority support in our sample: 64.5% are in favor of imposing higher taxes on those who do not perform military service, and 62% support affirmative action for IDF reservists in public-sector hiring.

Support the proposal that those who do not perform mandatory military service should pay higher taxes (%)

Support the proposal that in hiring for jobs in the public sector, priority should be given to candidates who perform IDF reserve duty (%)

This special survey on external security was prepared by the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, for the IDI’s Center for Security and Democracy. The survey was conducted via the internet and by telephone (to include groups that are under-represented on the internet) between October 7–13, 2024, with 600 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 150 in Arabic, constituting a nationally representative sample of the adult population in Israel aged 18 and over. The maximum sampling error was ±3.58% at a confidence level of 95%. Field work was carried out by Shiluv I²R.