YNet News (Link) (September 7, 2009)
A poll by the War and Peace Index, published monthly by Ynet, has concluded that feelings of national and personal security are on the rise among Israel's Jewish citizens.
Forty-nine percent of Jews in Israel ranked their personal feeling of security as high or very high, and only 19% ranked it as low, despite reports of a recent crime surge. In comparison, in April of 2007 just 42.5% ranked it as high, and 24% ranked it as low.
Regarding national security, 38% said they felt very secure and 22% said they didn't feel secure at all. The data constitutes a considerable improvement from 2007.
Leftists were also revealed as more confident on the national front than rightists. Just 39% of rightists said they felt very secure, while 51% of those describing themselves as leftists said they felt thus.
The surge in confidence among Israelis may be due to the high percentage (48%) of people who believe there is very little chance Israel will be attacked by Arab countries over the coming years. But 44% said they felt there was a considerable chance this would happen.
However the poll shows floundering faith in the government, with 54% saying they didn't believe it would succeed in maintaining Israel's interests if pressured by the international community into withdrawing from land.
Perhaps most impressive was civilian trust in the IDF, with 85% saying they believed the army would be capable of protecting Israel if it were attacked.
Public sentiment also leaned towards urgency in reaching an accord with the Palestinians, with 72% saying it was very urgent and just 24% saying it wasn't.