"Mossad" in Israel has been diminished

by Yuval Azoulay

(November, 26, Jerusalem, Sri Lanka Guardian) The public's confidence in the Israel Defense Forces is the lowest it has been in seven years, according to a new study. Confidence in the secret services has also diminished, according to the study.

According to the study's coauthors, Haifa University's Eran Vigoda-Gadot and Dr. Shlomo Mizrahi of Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, the findings correspond with the public's generally critical view of the state's institutions. Advertisement

The two researchers have been monitoring attitudes toward the army and security services since 2001, when the IDF received an average of 3.56 on a confidence scale of one to five. In 2007, the survey's responders gave the IDF 3.27 points.

However, the public appears to have more appreciation for the common soldier than before. "The soldiers of the IDF" received a score of 3.82, compared to only 3.6 in 2002. Their commanders, however, were rated at only 3.48 this year, as compared to 3.76 in 2003.

The Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence services also received low grades. In 2003, the foreign and internal intelligence services combined received a score of 3.81, but by this year that had declined to 3.53 points. The Shin Bet officer, who had enjoyed a confidence rating of 3.79 in 2006, is now down to 3.6. Mossad agents and operatives received 3.62 points this year, as compared with 3.98 in 2003.

Vigoda-Gadot, who heads Haifa's department of organizational behavior and public administration, says the data does not suggest a major decline in the public's confidence in the various services. "A score of 3.5 out of 5 isn't too bad, but it does give an idea of the public's general sentiments," he told Haaretz.

"Israelis tend to be alert and to rely on various sources," Vigoda-Gadot added. "This is what they base themselves on in forming their impressions. Now, are those impressions reality? That's a philosophical question."