Teens losing faith in country (Illustration)
Photo: Visual/Photos
Half of Israeli teens want to live abroad
Poll reveals almost half of Israeli youth would have preferred to live somewhere else, 68 percent say Israel's situation 'not good'
Almost half of Israeli teens aged 14-18 would have preferred to leave abroad, if only they had the chance, a new survey conducted by the Tel Hai academic college revealed Friday.
The survey, carried out among 273 teens that are a representative sample of Israeli youth, also found that 68 percent of the teens believe Israel's general situation is "not good." Only 32 percent of respondents said that the country was in "a very good" situation.
"These are serious findings that attest to the youths' lack of trust in the administration and in the leaders' ability to handle the different problems facing the country," said Dr Yifat Sassa-Biton from the college's Department of Education.
The teens were asked whether they believe Israel is successful in promoting social justice, narrowing socioeconomic gaps, providing all its citizens with proper standards of living and helping the weaker populations obtain employment.
Some 85 percent of the teens answered that the state was completely or partially unsuccessful in achieving theses objectives, and 71.5 percent stated they were concerned with the social situation in the country.
Additionally, 84 percent of the respondents claimed that the government failed in addressing economic problems, and 54.9 percent said that the relations between the immigrant and veteran populations in Israel were not good.
Education Minister Yuli Tamir responded to the poll by saying that "we certainly live in a time when all government institutions are subjected to harsh criticism... and therefore it is not surprising that the teens feel frustrated and that it's hard for them to develop a sense of pride and identify with the state."
