Israelis oppose reasonableness bill, blame gov't for turmoil - survey

A recent study conducted immediately following the passage of the bill restricting judicial use of the reasonableness standard, found that Israelis who opposed the law hold a solid majority over those who support it.

The study was conducted from the 24th through the 25th of this month by the aChord Center - Social Psychology for Social Change at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The survey included 1374 men and women were interviewed in Hebrew and Arabic, constituting a nationally representative sample of the adult population in Israel aged 18 and over and had a confidence level of 95%.

Opposition to restricting the reasonableness standard exceeded support for the new law by a considerable margin. More than half of those polled, 50.7% of survey participants, responded that they opposed the law. Just over a third, 33.7% expressed support for it. The remainder, 15.6%, were undecided.

More were opposed to the law than supported the protests

Again, albeit by a little less, supporters of the protests outnumbered those who opposed the protests. While over half of respondents opposed restricting the reasonableness standard, just under half, 48.1%, supported the protests of the law. 

Similarly, a larger proportion of respondents, 38.2%, opposed the protests than supported the bill. Just 13.6% hadn’t decided how they felt about the protests.

The study went on to suggest that most Israelis predict that the protestors will carry on, or even escalate, the protests against the government’s judicial reforms. 53.7% of survey respondents expected that the protests would intensify after the passage of the bill. 

About one in five, or 20.8%, responded expressing that they thought the protests would remain at the same level. A similar proportion, 21.6%, predicted that the protests would abate.

Additionally, most respondents were critical and pessimistic regarding the government’s actions.  Over two-thirds, 72.9%, felt the government was at fault for worsening economic conditions and 63.9% thought the government was responsible for deteriorating security.

A similar proportion, 62.8%, responded that the government was at fault for Israel’s social turmoil. 

In fact, 57.7% of respondents felt that the government, broadly, acted irresponsibly and was incapable of competently governing the nation. A minority, 42.3%, responded otherwise.

Israelis worry that societal functioning will suffer

About 7 in 10, or 70.1%, of respondents to the survey said that they believed Israel could face challenges in continuing to operate normally. 61.2% felt that should strikes in the military, public sector, medicine, and academia continue, the government would need to respond to the protesters' demands.