While 59% of Jewish respondents viewed polarization as the greatest threat, only 39% of Arab participants said the same, possibly due to higher Arab sympathy with Palestinians.
Israelis see the danger in internal polarization as surpassing the Iranian nuclear threat as well as the Israel-Palestinian conflict, new data from the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) revealed in December.
The data, collected in an extremely diverse population, was “analyzed and weighted by voting patterns and religiosity to represent the views of Israel’s adult population.”
According to the survey, conducted on Israelis of both Jewish and Arab background and from all sides of the political spectrum, 55% of Israelis “polarization and divisions within society” as the greatest threat facing the nation, the highest recorded number to date.
Only 23% of respondents saw the Iranian nuclear threat as the primary danger, and 18% the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Curiously, while 59% of Jewish respondents viewed polarization as the greatest threat, only 39% of Arab participants said the same, possibly due to higher Arab sympathy with Palestinians. Politically, 73% of centrists gave this as an answer, compared to 48% of the right.
Demonstrators block Highway 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv during a protest calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, August 26, 2025 (credit: ERIK MARMOR/FLASH90)
Israel’s public worries about Israel’s future
According to JPPI President Professor Yedidia Stern, “[the] JPPI Index findings show that the public is worried about the country’s future and places the internal challenge – relations between population groups, the political rift, and social instability – at the top of the national priorities.
In the public’s view, the social threat ranks above the security threat, and these data cannot be ignored when assessing national risks.
For this reason, we are advancing the ‘lean constitution’ initiative, intended to regulate relations among the branches of government through broad, stable agreements that rise above political disputes.
We seek to create common ground as a remedy for Israel’s social rifts, and we call on all those with influence to help us forge a public consensus around fair and stable rules of the game for everyone.”