Last week, the Israel Democracy Institute issued its annual Israel Democracy Index. This study could have been described as "the day of atonement for the Israeli media," if "day of atonement" hadn't become such a tired, overused clich . The tracking poll used to compile the index proved for the thousandth time that there is an incomprehensible gap between the terrible, unfortunate reality reflected in most of the written, broadcast and online Israeli media and the reality as the general public truly sees it. We have grown accustomed to the laments and sobs from our senior reporters, writers and artists in regard to the miserable future that awaits Israel. Here is an example of one of the poll questions: "Are you optimistic or pessimistic about Israel's future-" Some 80 percent of the respondents among the Jewish population said they were optimistic. Even among Israel's Arab population, 60% were optimistic. An overwhelming majority of the public thinks that Israel has the ability to defend itself militarily; that Israel will not become a lot more religious; that it won't lose its Jewish character; that the international isolation of Israel will not become worse; and that Israel will remain a leader in high-tech technology. Here are a few more facts: Most of the Israeli public rates Israel's current status as between fair and good. Even if most of the public aren't entirely satisfied with the government's conduct (there is criticism from both the Left and the Right), the public's faith in the government has steadily risen in recent years. A consistent increase was also recorded in the public's faith in state institutions in recent years. Even the Supreme Court enjoys increasing public trust up from 68.7% in 2011 to 73.4% this year. Despite the de-legitimization campaign constantly being waged against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli media, it appears that the public's faith in him has actually gone up since 2009: from 33.8% to 38.5% to 49.6% and ultimately to 56.4% today. Maybe the public isn't reading Yedioth Ahronoth or Haaretz or watching Israel's main TV stations, Channels 2 or 10. Moving on: More than 80% of the Jewish public in Israel view themselves as Zionists. A breakdown of the results revealed a sort of surprise: More than 60% of the ultra-Orthodox public defines itself as Zionist. Compare that figure with the routine incitement articles and reports vilifying the ultra-Orthodox in Israel. I have written in the past that sociological studies have demonstrated a clear process of Israelization within the ultra-Orthodox community in this country more and more involvement and caring about Israel not just from a religious standpoint but also from a national and international perspective. There is an accelerated academization process underway, greater and greater exposure to general discourse, and even democratization within the ultra-Orthodox sector, as is demonstrated by the lively ultra-Orthodox online forums. I can expand on this topic, but obviously the ultra-Orthodox public is being portrayed as they are seen through the alienated eyes of the media and represented by fringe elements. The image that has been created is not based on any actual data or reliable fact base. It is important to read the democracy index to understand why the public's faith in one thing has declined: faith in the media (down to 46.3%). The authors of the index point to a "wide gap" between the "repeated warnings by experts, who have received a lot of media coverage, over Israel's deteriorating democracy," and between the "stability of the public's assessment of governmental conduct alongside an improvement in democratic parameters." The authors admit that "in light of the growing threats derived from the current situation and the surplus of extremely critical analyses by experts in various political fields
and [in light of] the pessimistic mood that has characterized most of the media coverage this year
we expected a similar negativity in public opinion." "However
the general public's assessments of the current political situation and of Israel's future does not indicate any signs of significant deterioration
and there are no signs of any coming apocalypse in general public opinion." Yes, that is truly a problem. The public is unruly and has failed to internalize the media's mantra: bad, bad, bad. "Despite the discussions, online and on TV, about how the country is about to go caput, it turns out that the Israeli public, especially the Jewish sector, has not internalized the [bad] forecasts from both within and outside Israel," the authors wrote. What can I say; the public is healthier than its media. And one more important quote: "It appears that by and large the general public, even though its collective intelligence is something that tends to be dismissed [and we know exactly who is doing the dismissing, don't we-], currently represents a kind of island of sanity in the tempestuous sea of Israeli democracy." So, is there merit to our repeated demand that the Israeli media also reflect the views of the Israeli majority? Not in terms of the people the media chooses to interview, but in terms of the people who write the stories and broadcast the news? Maybe then the gap will diminish.
