Optimism among Israelis high

An exclusive Ynetnews poll conducted by Keevoon Research and Strategy found that 74% of Israelis expect the coming year to be a better one for them personally. Only 7% think it will be a worse year and 12% think it will be the same.

With regard to the coming year for the State of Israel, 56% of Israelis feel it will be better than last year while 20% expect it to be worse. Sixteen percent expect it will be the same.

Mitchell Barak, managing director of Keevoon, a leading survey research company in Israel, said: “Israelis are generally optimistic, both on a personal and national level, even though many are concerned with security threats, the political situation, the peace process and corruption. We were amazed that the results of this year’s survey were exactly the same as the one we conducted in October 2006.”

Surprisingly 90% of students and 85% of soldiers expect the next year to be better for them personally. This was the highest level of support among those polled.

Eighty-four percent of modern Orthodox Israelis are personally optimistic towards the upcoming year while only 71% of haredim expect the next year to be a better one for them personally. Interestingly, residents of the Tel Aviv and the South are much more optimistic than residents of Jerusalem, 78% vs. 66%.

Political affiliation showed divergent opinions with 90% of National Religious Party/National Union voters personally optimistic for next year compared with only 66% of Kadima voters and 52% of Yisrael Beitenu voters. Meretz voters were the most pessimistic with 20% who expect next year to be worse than last year compared to a national average of 7%.

Regarding the coming year for Israel, 56% of Israelis expect it to be a better one than last year. The highest level of optimism came from National Religious Party voters with 82% compared to only 44% of Meretz voters and 40% of Yisrael Beiteinu voters. Meretz voters were the most pessimistic group in Israel with 40% expecting it to be a worse one for Israel.

Men and women think differently about this issue with 60% of women optimistic for Israel compared to 52% of men. The least optimistic Israelis are aged 65 and older with only 47% expecting a better year for Israel. Interestingly, the majority of students, 65%, are optimistic, while only 39% of soldiers expressed optimism for Israel for the coming year. Thirty-two percent of housewives expect it to be a worse year for Israel.

Religious self-identification tells an interesting story with 70% of modern Orthodox Israelis expecting it to be a better year for Israel compared to 62% of haredim, 57% of traditional, and 51% of secular Israelis.

The poll was conducted by a telephone survey of 500 Jewish Israelis on September 18-19, 2007. It has a margin of error of +- 4.5%.