Israelis proud of country, but displeased with political system

Something new to celebrate on Israeli Independence Day: Nearly 60 percent of citizens say they are content with their lives in Israel, according to a poll released Thursday, despite hostile neighbors, rising housing costs, and the looming threat of nuclear war.

The Internet survey asked some 500 Israelis from the ages of 18 to 65 about their feelings towards their country and received mostly positive responses.

According to the poll by Walla news and the market research company TNS, of those surveyed 57% said they were content — 11% of whom went so far as to say they are “highly content” with their lives in Israel. So it is not surprising then that more than two-thirds of respondents say that Israel — warts and all — is where they prefer to live.

Of the Jewish Israelis surveyed, 82% said that they are proud to be Israeli, and almost half of those surveyed even said they were “very proud” of their nationality.

While the nation as a whole was highly regarded by the majority of the respondents, certain institutions did not fare as well. When asked to give a score from one to five to various official bodies, only the IDF and the court systems received an above passing grade. Israel’s army was awarded a score of 4.5 out of 5, and the courts earned a score of three. The education system and Israeli media each received scores of 2.5 out of 5. The government fared the worst, receiving just a 2.2 out of 5.

Men, the survey found, gave more positive responses than women; 62.1% of men as opposed to 52.2% of women said they were pleased with their lives in Israel. And younger respondents, those between the ages of 18 to 29, also were more content, 61.9% of them answering positively compared to 57.2% of older people surveyed.