Ahead of election year, survey finds Israelis’ trust in democracy remains low

Poll finds slight bump in trust in state bodies compared to 2024; majority of Israelis feel no party represents them; 34% say country’s situation is bad, down 20 points from 2024

Public trust in Israel’s democracy and state institutions remains near record lows for the second year in a row, data from the Israel Democracy Institute’s annual Democracy Index indicated on Monday, though significantly more Israelis believe the country’s overall situation is good compared to last year’s survey.

The study showed that trust in the government, among both Jews and Arabs, stayed near 2024 levels.

For Jewish respondents, trust in the government was reported to be 25 percent, up just over two points from the 2024 survey. For Arabs, trust in the government was 17.5%, up one point from the previous year.

The survey also showed that, among Jews, trust in the Israel Defense Forces remained high, at 81%, the same figure reported last year. For Arab citizens, trust in the IDF was reported at 31%, down three points from last year.

Trust in the Israel Police dropped three points for Jews, down from 42% to 39%. For Arabs, only 22% of respondents reported trust in police, down two points from 2024.

The drop in support for police comes amid an increase in violent crimes, including in the rate of femicides and homicides in Israel’s Arab community.

As for the Supreme Court, which has been the target of government ire for several years, Jewish respondents reported 41% trust, up from 39% last year. For Arabs, trust in the court was also 41%, up from 35.5% in 2024.

Regarding Israel’s democracy, just over a quarter (27%) of Jews rated it as “good or excellent.” For Arabs, the figure was only 12%.

That number changed drastically based on the political affiliation of the respondents, with those identifying with right-wing parties Likud and Religious Zionism giving Israel’s democracy scores of 44% and 47%, respectively.

Among respondents identifying with opposition parties, specifically Yesh Atid, Ra’am, and Hadash-Ta’al, only 10% of respondents rated Israel’s democracy as “good or excellent.” For Yisrael Beytenu voters, only 7% gave it a good rating.

The survey also showed that a majority of Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, feel there is no party that closely represents their views (Jews, 67.5%; Arabs, 76%).

As for Israel’s situation generally, the 2025 survey showed that opinions improved significantly, with only 34% of respondents saying they think the situation is “bad, or very bad,” down from 54% last year. Reflecting the more positive outlook, 29.5% reported that Israel’s situation is good, up from just 15% last year.

The bump in positive attitude comes after a year of significant developments in the region. Israel reached a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza in October, which has so far returned all living hostages from Gaza, along with all but one of the deceased hostages.

Additionally, Israel fought a 12-day war with Iran in June, launching a dramatic, sweeping assault on the country’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program that it said was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

As 2026 will be an election year in Israel, the IDI asked respondents whether they think the upcoming elections will be “free and fair.” Only 22.5% said they are certain they will be, 43% said they think they will be free and fair, 20% said they think they will not be, and 6.5% said they are certain they will not be free and fair.

Critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his hardline government have warned that they may attempt to disenfranchise Arab voters ahead of the elections — set to be held by the end of October — including by making it easier to disqualify Arab candidates.

According to the IDI’s latest index, respondents said they consider friction between right and left to be by far the “most acute social tension in Israel today,” almost the same breakdown as last year, whereas its 2022 survey found friction between Jews and Arabs to be by far the most acute social tension.

Despite all the dissatisfaction and distrust in Israel’s institutions, a vast majority of Israelis, both Arab and Jewish, reported that they would rather remain in Israel even if given the chance to emigrate to a Western country, with 71% and 72% of respondents in both communities choosing to stay, respectively.