A poll conducted among 11th and 12th grade high school students by the New Wave Research Center for Israel Hayom found that the respondents were more right-wing that the general public, which has itself moved further right in recent years.
59% of the students identified as right-wing, 23% of them identified as center, and only 13% of them as left-wing. 5% of the students had no political orientation.
The statistics regarding whether “Arab Israelis should be represented in the Knesset” were a close run, with 48% of the students replying in the negative and 52% saying yes to Arab representation.
82% of the students said that efforts to make peace with Palestinians were a lost cause and 18% said that a peace agreement was still possible. 60% opposed trying the soldier who recently shot a Palestinian, 30% supported the trial, and 10% were uncertain.
New Wave CEO Reuven Harari said that unlike most countries where young people lean more to the left, Israeli youth have moved further right than their parents. This may be due to the dire results of Israel’s attempts to make peace in past twenty years. Instead of peace, Israel has gone through two intifadas, three Gaza wars, and is presently enduring a terror wave.
85% of the respondents said they love Israel. Many of them said the reason for this is that the country feels like a family and its citizens stand together united in times of crisis.
David Steger- Matzav.com Israel
