Crisis of Confidence in Israeli Society: Extent, Causes and Ramifications

Dr. Yehuda Ben Meir, a psychologist and lawyer by profession, served as a member of the Knesset for 13 years from 1971 to 1984. During this time, he was the Chairman of the NRP faction in the Knesset and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense and Finance Committees of the Knesset. From 1981 to 1984, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister in the Begin and Shamir governments. Ben Meir is the author of National Security Decision Making: The Israeli Case (Westview Press, 1986) and Civil-Military Relations in Israel (Columbia University Press, 1995), as well as of many articles on public opinion and national security. His latest major publication is: The People Speak: Israeli Public Opinion on National Security 2005-2007 (coauthored with Dafna Shaked, Institute for National Strategic Studies, 2007). Ben Meir is currently a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. Dr. Ben Meir was a member of the Shachak Committee that was entrusted with the implementation of the recommendations of the Interim Report of the Winograd Commission.

Israeli society is undergoing a grave crisis of confidence in the national establishment. This conclusion is supported by ample objective data as well as by the overall subjective atmosphere. This crisis of confidence is not limited to certain elements of the establishment; it extends to almost all major national institutions and organs of the state. It is not a new or sudden phenomenon, but has been developing over a period of years. It was, however, seriously exacerbated as a result of the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, and has subsequently reached dangerous and almost catastrophic proportions.

The crisis of confidence is quite extensive and I will present data showing the extent, depth and scope of the crisis. Its causes, which are many and varied, not least of which is the media coverage of events in Israel, will be outlined and analyzed. The ramifications of the confidence crisis are, of course, far reaching. I will attempt to identify some of the key ramifications and to analyze and predict some of their possible consequences.