1 July, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Corinne Sauer, Executive Director, 054-7650125
corinne.sauer@jims-israel.org
Jerusalem, Israel
www.jims-israel.org/pdf/SurveyPRenglish.pdf

To a "smaller and smarter" IDF: Israelis say Yes. To a fully professional
"volunteer" army: Israelis say No.

A new survey 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 people's 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 "people's 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.
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About the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies The Jerusalem Institute
for Market Studies (JIMS) is an independent, non-profit economic policy
think tank whose mission is to promote social progress in Israel through
economic freedom and individual liberty. JIMS' website is
http://www.jims-israel.org.
About the Israel Panel Study of Opinion Dynamics (IPSOD)

The main objective of the Israel Panel Study of Opinion Dynamics (IPSOD) is
to understand Israeli public opinion on a range of social and economic
policies. Specifically, the survey elicits responses towards: taxes, social
inequalities and poverty, the determinants of economic success, trust in
institutions and political process, attitudes towards the army, attitudes
towards the educational system and life happiness.