Study finds right-left tension becomes Israel’s chief social divide

A growing fissure between the right and left has catapulted political rifts to become the most powerful source of tension in Israeli society, leapfrogging long-held divisions between Jews and Arabs, a new poll of attitudes from across the widening political spectrum finds.

In 2012, just nine percent of Jewish Israelis identified the right-left divide as the worst in the country. Today, that number stands at 36%, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) poll released on Monday.

In a damning indication of public trust in elected officials, close to half of Israelis believe the country’s leadership is corrupt, the poll finds. Among voters for coalition parties, however, that number dropped to less than half of the overall average, not registering as the top concern.

Overall, some 45% of respondents agree that Israel’s democracy is in “serious danger.” But the sentiment was also split along political lines, being far more prevalent among Arab Israelis (70%) and left-wing Jewish respondents (57%), while just 13% of religiously identified and right-wing respondents agree.

Those are the starkest of several indications of right-left alienation in the latest Israel Democracy Index, a comprehensive annual survey of Israeli attitudes conducted between April 8 and May 2 by IDI and presented to President Reuven Rivlin this afternoon.

In total, 36% of the 1,041 respondents (with a maximum sampling error of 3.1%) said that right-left tensions were the strongest in Israeli society, while just 28% said tensions between Jews and Arabs were worse.

— Raoul Wootliff