JPPI Survey Says Internal Polarization Now Seen as Israel’s Biggest Threat
The Jewish People Policy Institute, or JPPI, published its annual 2026 report on the state of Israeli society on Sunday. The findings portray a deeply divided country in which internal polarization is seen as a greater danger than Iran or the Palestinian conflict.
According to the survey, 55% of Israelis say internal division is the main threat to Israel’s future, compared with 23% who fear an Iranian nuclear bomb and 18% who cite the conflict with the Palestinians. Six in 10 respondents also said they believe there is a real risk of physical violence and bloodshed inside Israel. The report describes a crisis of trust among secular Israelis, the largest Jewish group, about half of whom are no longer sure Israel is the right and safe place for their children and grandchildren.
The study also found a sharp divide over ultra-Orthodox enlistment. While 80% of the public supports drafting Haredim, 79% of Haredim oppose it even if special units are offered. The Haredi sector received the lowest average closeness score among the population groups, while secular Israelis gave their closeness to Haredim just 1.81 out of 10. At the same time, trust in the senior IDF command reached a record 82% after the change of chiefs of staff and the move to direct regional warfare. But many Israelis remain skeptical about Gaza, expecting Hamas to survive despite the ceasefire and the return of hostages, and worrying that Trump’s plan did not disarm the group.
The report also says the war pushed Israeli politics further right. The share of respondents identifying as hard right rose from 11% to 19%, and nearly half of young people who had described themselves as left-of-center said they moved rightward. Most respondents view the state budget as a political document tilted toward coalition needs and want deep cuts in ministries, coalition funds, and sectoral funding for the Haredi community. On antisemitism abroad, 87% said they were worried during the height of US campus protests, and 66% of Jewish Israelis would advise Diaspora Jews to make aliyah.
JPPI’s three annual indices showed hope at 7.13, closeness at 5.51, and agreement at 3.71. JPPI president Yedidya Stern said the country shows resilience and optimism, but also behaves like a fractured society living with deep existential anxiety. Nasreen Haddad Haj Yahia, the only Arab speaker, said, “Identity is an open wound,” described pain over her family in Gaza and friends in the Israeli border communities, and denounced what she called systematic dispossession and violence in the West Bank. The report was compiled by JPPI researchers Shmuel Rosner, Noa Slepkov, and Yael Levinovski, with statistical advice from Tel Aviv University’s David Steinberg.
