Israelis more optimistic about the future this Rosh Hashanah than last year, survey finds

Israeli Jews are more optimistic this year than last year about their country’s future, with the shift driven largely by right-wing voters, according to a survey released ahead of Rosh Hashanah.

The Jewish People Policy Institute’s Israeli Society Index found that 43% of Jewish Israelis believe Israel is improving and will continue to improve, up from 36% last year. Among right-wing respondents, optimism rose to 76%, compared with 68% a year ago.

Overall, 35% of Israelis said the country is improving and will get better, while 30% said Israel is declining and the decline will continue. The latter figure fell from 38% last year.

Overall, the report says, “the right has become more optimistic about the present, while the center-left has become more optimistic about the future.”

Among Arab Israelis, the sentiment was quite different. Only 5% expressed strong optimism, the survey found, while 54% said Israel is declining and will continue to decline, virtually unchanged from last year.

Views of the past year were mixed. Economic assessments improved, with 30% calling the year bad, down from 35%, while 18% called it good, up from 11%.

The social sphere remained the weakest area, with 52% describing the year as bad and only 4% as good. Meanwhile, 49% said the world is declining, virtually unchanged from last year.

The survey was conducted in September with 663 Jewish respondents and 206 Arab respondents.