Trust in Israel Police declines, Israelis suspect politicians impact police decisions - IDI

Trust in the police is in decline, research by the Israel Democracy Institute presented at the institute’s Security and Democracy conference on Tuesday found.

“Trust in the police has undergone major upheavals over the last year and a half,” the institute said, adding that this trust was at a record low for the last decade during protests against the government’s attempted judicial reform in June 2023. The rate of those who reported that they trust the police stood at 35% among Israeli Jews in this period, the IDI said.

Trust in the police spiked to 59% of Jewish Israelis after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, during which the police fought heroically to defend the public.

The last year has seen a decline in this trust, with it falling to 39% of Jewish Israelis.

In Arab society, trust did not spike as high after October 7 but has also fallen more moderately and now stands at 25%, the IDI found, highlighting that this is “less than half what it was two decades ago.”

There are also major differences between this trust among Jewish Israelis when looking at political affiliation. While 50% of those on the political Right trust the police, just 25% of those in the center, and 15% of those on the Left trust the police, the IDI said – highlighting that these are historic lows.

Divided public trust in Israeli police

“The findings over the years show that even during the Disengagement from Gaza, when the police were involved in dispersing volatile demonstrations associated with the Right, public trust in the police was not deeply affected by political orientation,” said the report, saying that this shows that police were viewed as being above political disagreements.

“The question of the police’s independence, neutrality, and professionalism has now become a political issue,” the IDI added, saying that this shift began in 2018 based on previous findings.

The poll also found that around half of coalition voters and a large majority of opposition party voters think that the actions of police command and officers in the field are impacted by politicians and are not based solely on professional considerations.

Answers were similar, albeit with a smaller gap between coalition and opposition voters, when respondents were asked if police officers’ personal and political views impact their decision-making.

“Interestingly, voters for Shas and United Torah Judaism are more similar in their views to opposition party voters, perhaps as a result of the experiences of haredim [ultra-Orthodox] as a minority group,” said the IDI.

The institute also noted that “voters for Arab parties do not offer a more negative view of police officers in this regard than do Jewish respondents.”

Asking whether people think police “maintain the correct balance between the freedom to protest and public order considerations,” the IDI found that “a small, yet sizable and stable proportion of the Israeli public, believe that the police do indeed act in a balanced way when policing demonstrations.”

This means that among voters for all parties except three, between 33 and 47% of respondents agree that police strike the right balance.

This does not hold true for United Torah Judaism, Ra’am, and Labor voters. Among UTJ voters, just 27% thought this statement was true. For Ra’am voters, 23% agreed, and among Labor voters, 16% agreed.

“This discrepancy may stem from the fact that voters for these parties have been exposed (personally or via friends) to policing of demonstrations that has affected their responses,” said the IDI.

The research was based on a survey conducted via the Internet and telephone in October 2024. It included 600 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 150 in Arabic.

Respondents constitute a representative sample of Israel’s population aged 18 and over with a maximum sampling error of ±3.58% at a confidence level of 95%.

The police responded saying that it “has been and will continue to be an independent and professional force. Its officers will remain steadfast, uphold the values of the police, and work for the safety of the public at all times.

“We reject any attempt to attribute political bias or ulterior motives to the actions of the police.

“Regarding public trust, we emphasize that the relationship between citizens and the police is the foundation of its existence. In this regard, the Israel Police has acted and will continue to act for the benefit of various communities, striving to increase trust and cooperation with all citizens of the State of Israel.”