Public Opinion in Israel on the IDF and National Security
The findings of the annual survey of the Center for Security and Democracy and the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute were presented at the Annual Conference on Security and Democracy, held at the Israel Democracy Institute on Tuesday–Wednesday, November 25–26, 2025.
The 2025 Annual Conference on Security and Democracy
- The end of the war has seen a slight drop in trust in the IDF, mainly on the Left.
- Around two-thirds of respondents trust the senior command of the IDF, though the level of trust has declined among those in the Center and on the Left.
- Less than half the respondents trust the IDF’s investigations into the events of October 7.
- There has been a rise in the share of respondents in favor of ending mandatory conscription and making the IDF a professional army, especially among younger age groups.
- There has been a rise in the share of respondents who agree that, in order to facilitate the integration of Haredim into the IDF, it is reasonable to restrict the access of female soldiers to certain roles, advancement opportunities, and service locations. In the national religious public, and unsurprisingly in the Haredi public, the majority agree with this proposal.
- The majority of the public oppose investigating soldiers when they are suspected of having abused Palestinians from Gaza.
- Around two-thirds of Jews think that maintaining the ethical principle of "purity of arms" is preventing the IDF from fulfilling its mission.
With the end of the war, the IDF has retained a high level of trust relative to other state institutions. However, public trust in the IDF has declined, mainly among those in the Center and on the Left.
Trust the IDF, 2003–2025 (Jews; %)
Trust the IDF, 2015–2025 (Jews, by political orientation; %)
Although a high level of trust in the IDF has been maintained, trust in the senior command of the IDF is lower, and it has even fallen slightly from last year. Today, 65% trust the IDF senior command, compared to 66.5% in 2024. This decrease is particularly noticeable on the Left (from 80% to 67%), and a slight decline was also measured in the Center (from 73.5% to 70%). On the Right, the share of those who trust the IDF senior command remains the same.
Trust the IDF senior command (Jews; %)
Over the past year, the IDF has published a series of investigations into the military’s performance on October 7. Public opinion regarding the credibility of these investigations is divided: 45.5% of the respondents think that they are very or fairly reliable, while 42.5% think that they are not so reliable or not at all reliable.
The highest level of trust in the IDF’s investigations is found among those in the Center (58%), while the lowest is on the Right (only 40%).
To what extent do you think that the investigations being carried out by the IDF into the events of October 7 are reliable or unreliable? (Jews; %)
The questions regarding trust in the IDF senior command and the reliability of the IDF’s investigations were asked, of course, before the dismissals and reprimands announced by the IDF chief of staff on November 23, and thus we do not know how these will affect public trust in the senior command.
To what extent do the public think that IDF soldiers (whether in regular service, career roles, or reserve duty) receive the appropriate psychological treatment? Around two-thirds of respondents do not agree that the psychological support given to soldiers by the IDF is appropriate, and just 22% think that appropriate treatment is being provided.
Do you agree or disagree that during their military service, soldiers (in regular service, career roles, or reserve duty) receive appropriate psychological support? (Jews; %)
We believe that the distribution of responses to the last two questions (regarding IDF investigations and psychological support) indicates that while public trust in the IDF is high overall, when it comes to questions not related to operational activity during the war, trust in the IDF is lower. In these contexts, the IDF is perceived as a part of the government systems (as auditing its own activity, or as responsible for providing mental health services), in which trust is not high.
For a number of years, we have been tracking public opinion regarding ethical and legal restrictions on the use of force. This year, we repeated three questions designed to examine the Jewish public’s attitudes toward policies that violate international law and the IDF’s own directives. Analyzing by political orientation, we found very large differences in the responses to these three questions. For example, while only 25% of those on the Left agree that terrorists should be killed after being neutralized even if they do not pose an immediate danger, almost three times this proportion (74.5%) of respondents on the Right support such action.
Ethical issues regarding combat situations (Jews, strongly/somewhat agree; %)
It is important to note the very significant differences between respondents according to religiosity: For example, 80% of Haredim think that in the event of rocket fire from Gaza on the Israeli population, heavy fire should be directed at Palestinian population centers, a view shared by only 40% of secular Jews; and 81% of traditional religious respondents think that terrorists should be killed after being neutralized even if they do not pose a danger, while only 49% of secular Jews concur.
The events of October 7 and the subsequent war can perhaps partly explain the discrepancies in the data obtained in recent surveys (this year and last year). However, it is important to note that these are continuing trends in Israeli society, and a growing proportion of Jewish Israelis believe that, with regard to the Palestinians, the provisions of Israeli law, international law, and even IDF directives do not need to be strictly followed.
The clearest expression of these trends is the public’s attitude toward “purity of arms”—the IDF’s directives on the selective use of deadly force, which form part of its ethos and are anchored in its code of ethics. A majority of 65% of the respondents think that upholding the principle of purity of arms (avoiding unnecessary killing and harming innocent people) prevents the IDF from fulfilling its mission, an increase of 5 percentage points relative to last year. Breaking down responses by political orientation reveals that this view is held by around 78% of those on the Right, compared with only 35% on the Left.
It is interesting to note that in the Center, there was actually a decline this year in the share of respondents who believe that the principle of purity of arms prevents the IDF from performing its mission (from 56% to 46%), and a noticeable increase in the share who think that this principle actually helps the IDF fulfill its mission (from 26% to 39.5%).
To what extent does upholding the ethical principle of selective use of deadly force prevent the IDF from fulfilling its mission, or help it to do so? (Jews; %)
A Return to the Pre-War Model?
A series of surveys carried out just before the war indicated that a significant percentage of Israelis were in favor of abolishing mandatory conscription and making the IDF a professional army. Last year, during the war, there was (unsurprisingly) a significant increase in support for the conscription model. With the end of the war, there seems to be a decline in support for mandatory conscription, though the level of support is still significantly higher than it was before the war. It is not inconceivable that in the coming years, this decline in support for the compulsory conscription model will continue, with greater support for the model of the IDF as a professional army.
Agree/disagree with the proposal to end mandatory conscription and to make the IDF a professional army, in which soldiers are compensated accordingly (Jews; %)
It is particularly interesting to note the differences by age regarding this question. While in the youngest age group (18–24) and the intermediate age group (35–54), there is significant support for shifting to the professional army model (41.5% and 39%, respectively), among those aged 55 and over, support for such a transition is only 22%.
The question of Haredi conscription to the IDF is currently at the center of public discourse in Israel. One of the possible consequences of Haredi conscription is a restriction on the service of women in certain roles. Last year, there was a solid majority (76%) who opposed women “paying the price” for the integration of Haredim into the IDF, while only about 19% were supportive. This year, we found a significant increase in support for imposing restrictions on women’s roles in the IDF in order to facilitate Haredi military service, up to around 32%. This increase is concentrated mainly in the Haredi and national religious groups, where a majority are in favor of imposing restrictions on women in order to facilitate Haredi military service.
Agree/disagree that in order to allow the integration of Haredim into the IDF, it is reasonable to place restrictions on women’s military service in terms of the roles, advancement opportunities, and service locations open to them (Jews; %)
Presumably, these changes in public attitudes stem from the work carried out in the IDF to prepare options for Haredi service, including the establishment of the Hasmonean Brigade, and from the understanding that Haredi conscription is required due to the needs of the military. In other words, significant sections of the public have become convinced that military service by Haredim is indeed possible, as long as the appropriate conditions are provided for them.
The full survey findings are coming soon and will be published on this page.
This survey was prepared by the Center for Security and Democracy and the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute. The survey was conducted via the internet and by telephone (to include groups that are under-represented on the internet) between October 21 and November 6, 2025, with 600 men and women interviewed in Hebrew, constituting a nationally representative sample of the adult Jewish population in Israel aged 18 and over. The maximum sampling error was ±4% at a confidence level of 95%. Field work was carried out by Ci Marketing Information. The full data file can be found at: https://dataisrael.idi.org.il.
