IPSOD First Wave Preliminary Results

IPSOD reveals that the majority of the Jewish population in Israel supports the idea of a smaller and smarter army, but is not yet willing to let go of the "people's army."

The Israel Panel Study of Opinion Dynamics (IPSOD), a new national survey commissioned by the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS), contained a special section on the recent changes taking place within the IDF, such as the reduction in days of reserve duty, the increase in draft dodging, and the outsourcing of non core military activities to the private sector. The results of the survey clearly show that the majority of Israelis support the idea of a smaller and smarter army but within a peoples army framework.

The survey was conducted by the polling firm Dahaf on behalf of JIMS. A total of 1,006 individuals, representative of the Jewish population in Israel (with a margin of error of 4%), were interviewed by phone between February and March 2008.

The respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the following statement; "To reduce the defence budget, non core (non combat) military activities should be outsourced to private companies (e.g., food services, laundry, car repairs, base cleaning and maintenance, etc..). The majority, 56.7%, agree that the IDF should outsource non core activities to private businesses and only 22.5% disagree. The proportion supporting outsourcing did not differ by gender of the respondent. However, older respondents were more likely to support outsourcing than younger ones.

The survey further asked interviewees if they agreed with the following statement: "The army should hire civilians/private security personnel to replace reservists for non combat activities (e.g., guard duty)" A total of 49.9% agreed with this statement compared to 37% that disagreed, showing overall support for policies that would reduce the number of non combat reservists. Female respondents were more supportive of replacing reservists (52.7%) with private security personnel than were males (45.35%). The results did not significantly vary across age groups.

Following the same line of questioning, the survey asked if "Israel should move towards a voluntary professional army like in the USA". Here, a vast majority of respondents disagreed (45%) or strongly disagreed (29.4%). Only 15.3 % supported a move from conscription to a professional army. Respondents older than 60 tended to agree more (23.9%) than those less than 40 (11.8%). "IPSOD clearly points to Israelis being in favour of a leaner and less labor intensive army. They support the outsourcing of non core military activities to the private sector, but, at the same time, there is only tepid support for a more comprehensive move to a fully professional, volunteer army says Professor Robert Sauer, President of JIMS.

The fact that Israelis still strongly support the idea of a "peoples army" is also evident from their attitudes towards draft dodgers. The survey shows that 60.8% of the respondents think draft dodgers should be punished. Male respondents showed stronger support for punishment (70%) than did their female counterparts (51%). Those less than 40 also support punishment (62%) more heavily than those 60 years and older (53%). This shows that the ones who shoulder the bulk of the military burden (young and male) are the ones most opposed to draft dodging. Among respondents in favour of punishment, 62% find it legitimate for an employer to refuse offering a job to a draft dodger, and 54% are in favour of giving draft dodgers jail sentences.

Continued support for conscription is also consistent with the answers to the question of whether or not military service was a good experience. 87% of the respondents thought that military service for men is definitely a good experience, while 78% thought that military service is also a positive experience for women. The results did not vary significantly by age and gender.