Israelis' consumption of war-related news varies by demographic

A new survey by researchers at Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in Ramat Gan that examined war-related information consumption has found that almost a third of Israeli Arabs regard social media – not generally known for truth and accuracy – as the “most reliable source” for war-related information, followed by journalists and the more traditional media (29.5%).

Nevertheless, almost half of the Arab Israelis who were polled said they had posted less social media content since October 7.

In a survey conducted last month by BIU, almost three-fourths (73.7%) of Israeli Jews said they viewed the IDF spokesman as the most reliable source of information about the war in Gaza against Hamas terrorists.

Religious composition of poll participants

During the seventh week of the war, a sample of 146 Arab Israeli adults aged 18 and over participated in the new survey, conducted by Dr. Gal Yavetz of BIU’s information science department.

The Arab respondents – a representative sample of Muslims, Christians, and Druze – participated in two waves: during the fifth and seventh weeks of the war.

When asked to indicate their main reason for consuming news during the war, 40% said they do so for a sense of security, while 28% said it was to “stay informed.”

The earlier poll, conducted during the fifth week of the war among a representative sample of 505 Israeli Jews, showed that most (57.4%) consume information from the media to “stay informed,” and less than a fourth (23%) do so for their sense of personal security.