Internal divisions are the biggest threat to Israel – poll

Majority of Israelis believe internal divisions and polarization are the greatest threat to the State of Israel and are more of a danger than the Israeli-Arab conflict or Iran’s nuclear program.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s internal divisions and growing political polarization are the greatest threats to the country’s future, most Israelis believe.

On Sunday, the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) released the findings of a survey conducted online for its Israeli Society Index.

The poll, which surveyed Israeli Jews and Arabs, found that 55% of respondents say that polarization and division constitute the single greatest threat to the State of Israel.

Less than a quarter (23%) said that Iran’s nuclear program is the greatest threat the country faces, while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict came third with 18%.

“Israelis are increasingly convinced that what weakens the country most profoundly is not external pressure but internal division,” said Shmuel Rosner, editor of JPPI’s Israeli Society Index.

“Even when anxiety about Iran is high, the public sees fragmentation at home as the greater strategic risk.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli judicial system are both sharply polarizing issues, the poll found, with Israelis divided along partisan lines regarding the future of Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, his political career, and the request for a presidential pardon.

More than half (56%) of respondents said they have little or no trust in Netanyahu, while a narrow plurality (37%) back Netanyahu’s request for a presidential pardon without any preconditions.

Nearly as many (36%) say President Isaac Herzog should pardon Netanyahu, but only in exchange for a pledge by the premier to retire from politics. Just 22% say they want the trial to continue.

Among Israeli Jews, 44% back an unconditional end to Netanyahu’s trial.

Broken down by political ideology, 100% of self-described left-wingers say the trial should continue, while 77% of right-wingers back a presidential pardon.

“The survey findings show that the public still sees Iran as a major threat — but it does not come close to the intensity of the perceived threat posed by internal social rifts,” said JPPI President Prof. Yedidia Stern.

“The public, across all its sectors, fears for the country’s future and places the internal challenge at the top of the national priority list: relations between population groups, political divides, and social instability.”