On the affair surrounding the latest Prisoner X affair, a recent poll conducted for Israel Hayom by the New Wave Research institute was unequivocal: Israelis trust the security forces, have faith in government decisions, understand the security threats we face and are willing to forgo sensational reporting to defend against them. Nearly twice as many people polled thought it was a mistake to report on the second Prisoner X than those who thought that it was wise to report it. Incidentally, if you break down the results of the poll, you will find no significant differences between the various sectors of Israeli society. Everyone understands what is at stake.
The Israel Hayom poll asked a representative sample of 500 Hebrew-speaking Israeli Jews over the age of 18 if they thought that the second Prisoner X story should have been made public. The results showed that 27.9 percent of respondents felt that it was the public's right to know about the affair, while 52.6% said that the story should not have been made public as it could harm state security; 19.5% of the respondents said that they didn't have an opinion one way or the other. The margin of error in the poll was 4.4%.
It turns out Israelis are much more mature and responsible than those who presume to speak on their behalf. They know that contrary to Yedioth Ahronoth's latest allegations, there are no "Prisoner Xs" in Israel. No one has been made to disappear. No one is imprisoned illegally. No one is put into a holding cell or a prison cell without a trial or a defense attorney. No one's rights are being violated, unless Yedioth Ahronoth considers being written up in the papers a fundamental human right.
The gag order on the affair was the only restriction placed on the so-called second Prisoner X. None of his rights were violated. In fact, Israel treats individuals like this particular prisoner much better and more humanely than many other democracies do. A British or American prisoner of his variety could only dream of the kinds of rights that the Israeli Prisoner X enjoys.
When the revelation that the U.S. administration had hacked into every possible email account and eavesdropped on every phone conversation, the polls revealed that the vast majority of Americans support this kind of conduct. They prefer less privacy and more security to the possibility of a terror attack and the eventuality of turning into a bleeding hunk of flesh. It turns out that Israelis would also rather forgo the sensationalist headlines, and understand that sometimes exposure causes great harm to their security. They trust the authorities on these things.
The campaign surrounding the second Prisoner X did not appear in a vacuum. It came from the general attitude of constantly preaching to us how unbearable life here has become. Yedioth Ahronoth are leading this campaign: they explain to us that food prices are terribly high; unemployment is skyrocketing; gas prices are rising; military service is a waste of time; and worst of all, Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister, and the weather is hot and muggy.
However, despite their efforts, our polls reveal time and time again that most Israelis really do want to live here, are proud to be Israeli and wouldn't trade Israel for anywhere else in the world.
So now there is the added implied message that the Israeli authorities make people disappear. This message is trying to tell us to run for our lives. They don't say it directly, but it is certainly implied.
But it simply isn't working. Despite all the headlines on the second Prisoner X, Israelis are voicing a clear message: Leave us alone with your nonsense. We understand the harsh reality we are facing and we are happy to give those who are protecting us the room they need to do so.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו