[tupocc] Poll: Gov't should help [Transfer] Arab citizens emigrate

Poll: Gov't should help Arab citizens emigrate By Amiram Barkat and Jack Khoury

Some 62 percent of Israelis believe the government should encourage the country's Arab citizens to emigrate, according to a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute that will be published today as part of its annual Democracy Index project.

Only 14 percent of respondents thought relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel were good, while 29 percent said fateful decisions about the country's future should require the approval of a Jewish majority.

The main focus of this year's survey, however, was political parties - and it found a sharp decline in Israelis' faith in such parties since last year.

Only 22 percent said they had faith in political parties, a lower rating than was received by any other government institution.

By comparison, 33 percent had faith in the Knesset, 44 percent in the media, 68 percent in the Supreme Court and 79 percent in the Israel Defense Forces.

Some 82 percent of Israelis said democracy is the best system of government for Israel, up 5 percent over last year.

Yet at the same time, only 27 percent think they have any ability to influence government policy; only 17 percent believe elected politicians keep their promises, or even try to do so; and only 25 percent think Knesset members care what the general public thinks.

But despite their low level of faith in politics, the survey said, the percentage of Israelis interested in politics has grown since last year, and exceeds the figures recorded in 35 other Western democracies.

The survey also found a sharp decline in the percentage of people who object to soldiers disobeying orders for reasons of conscience, and particularly if the order in question involves evacuating settlements.

Only 58 percent of respondents said they opposed disobeying orders, down from 70 percent last year.

The survey's findings regarding the public's attitudes toward Arabs raised a predictable outcry from Arab politicians and organizations, which urged the government to respond by formulating a comprehensive educational and media program to combat racism.

"The findings are not surprising, and they are a natural outgrowth of a racist policy toward the Arab population," said MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash), who added that he planned to call for a Knesset debate on the matter.

"Racism has become a central stream in Israeli society," charged lawmaker Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al).

"In Israel, children are educated that this is a state of all its Jews, not a state of all its citizens," added MK Jamal Zalakha (Balad).

Abir Kubati, spokeswoman for the Mossawa Center, an Arab advocacy group, said that as long as "a majority supports encouraging the emigration of Arabs, this is a sign that the state is not democratic."

"A people that emigrated to the Arab Middle East must respect its Arab denizens, natives of this place, and not aspire to their emigration," Kubati added.

 

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