The IDSF HaBithonistim Index is an online gauge of the sentiments among Israeli public on issues of security, military and society. The current index focuses on education – a cause that is at the top of the priority list for the IDSF HaBithonistim movement, as it constitutes a cornerstone of Israel’s national security.
The survey touches upon issues pertaining, among others, to the subject matter taught in Israeli schools, the scope of responsibility that Israel’s education establishment is charged with, and to the role of the education system, and its role in the shaping of the individual and collective identities in Israel.
In the next two papers, we will explore the results of the survey and the insights they offer. The present paper focuses on the values that should be instilled in Israel’s generation of school students, on the educational curriculum, and on the manner in which the educational system prepares its students for their future professional and civilian lives. The following paper explores the correlation between education and security, and the role of high school education in the preparation for military service.
The survey was conducted during September 2024 under the academic guidance of Dr. Ronen Itzik and with the statistical guidance of Dr. Hagai Elkayam. The survey was conducted among 1,611 respondents from the adult population in Israel (18+) who use the Internet, and was monitored to ensure appropriate representation in terms of age, gender, nationality, religiosity, and political affiliation.
For the combined sample (1,611 respondents), the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2.5% with a probability of 95%; For the Jewish sample (1,354 respondents), the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3% with a probability of 95%; For the Arab sample (257 respondents), the maximum margin of sampling error is ±6.2% with a probability of 95%.
What next after high school? Preparing students for adult life
Even a cursory glance shows one clear conclusion in regards to the public’s view of Israel’s education system: It is in urgent need of reform. The overwhelming majority of Israeli public thinks that the educational system fails to prepare its students for adult life, professionally and civically.
Results show that 80% of all respondents stated that the educational system does not provide students with sufficient vocational preparation and tools to allow them to join the job market, or that it provides minimal preparation – 75% thought that the educational system fails to prepare students for civilian life in Israel, or prepares them inadequately.
An additional aspect that indicated the imperative to reform the educational system is the declining numbers of vocational and agricultural schools, which have been disappearing from Israel’s educational map. 85% of the respondents support the establishment of vocational schools that would train students to join the manufacturing sector, and 70% support the establishment of agricultural schools. It seems that the public deeply understands that in the wake of the October 7 attack, Israel must chart a new list of priorities, wherein it achieves greater independence in the manufacturing of arms and ammunition, and greater agricultural self-sufficiency.
“The connection between industry and agriculture and Israel’s national security was clear even before the foundation of Israel. Jewish historical icon, Joseph Trumpeldor had already determined that Israel’s security line must be akin to the furrow line in the plowed field,” says chairman of the IDSF HaBithonistim movement Brigadier General (res.) Amir Avivi. “We in the movement also believe in this close connection, and therefore believe that the vocational and agricultural high schools that were popular in the formative years of Israel should be restored. Such high schools would also enable many students, who cannot get through the formal education system, to complete their schooling with professional qualifications and, will also inject high-quality manpower into the Israeli labor market reducing Israel’s dependence on foreign workers and imports, and will also strengthen the ideological connection between citizens and their country.”
Questioning values: the ideological role of the education system
The IDSF HaBithonistim movement believes that one of the roles of the educational system is to instill values rather than just knowledge. This notion had never been more significant as after October 7th, when it became clear that in order to survive, Israeli society must unite, and step up to the flag to serve in the army. As part of the survey, participants were asked to answer a number of questions pertaining to the ideological role of the educational system in Israel, both in Jewish and Arab societies.
According to the results of the combined sample, 65% of all respondents believe that the educational system places too much emphasis on grades, while 77% believe that the system does not place enough emphasis on values. In addition, when asked to choose from given options what the main goal of the educational system is, 48% of the respondents stated that the goal is to promote values of personal development, compared to 52% who stated that the system’s ultimate goal is to promote values of group affiliation and cooperation.
“The absolute importance of grades and personal achievement – particularly in STEM subjects – indicates that the educational system concentrates its efforts in priming its students for higher academic education, thereby tying youth development to the required standard of academic performance in high education institutes, as a personal objective that must be achieved”, says Colonel (res.) Dr. Ronen Itzik. “In and of itself, this is not wrong, but it clearly comes at the expense of the time and resources that the educational system could be devoting to instilling values and building a national ethos that is consistent with the uniqueness of the State of Israel. The findings show a disturbing imbalance that is expressed by the preference of the value of individualism over the collective – something that does not correspond to the demands of the reality in Israeli society with its complex challenges.”
The participants were also asked to select the values they thought are most important to instill in students in Israel. The leading value was that of personal responsibility, which was selected by 68% of the respondents. That was immediately followed by the values of tolerance (64%), patriotism (60%), Zionism (51%), and connection to tradition (48%). At the bottom of the table appeared the values of helping the weak (41%) and the service to the state (37%).
It is worth mentioning that with regard to certain values, there were significant discrepancies between Jews and Arabs. For example, 66% of the Jews chose the value of patriotism, compared to 28% of the Arab respondents.
A look at a segmentation according to political ideology also reveals several significant discrepancies:
- 68% of the right-wing respondents chose instillation of Zionism, compared to 43% on the left;
- 74% of the respondents on the right chose the value of patriotism, compared to 45% on the left;
- 47% of respondents on the right of the political map chose tolerance, compared to 91% on the left;
- 31% of the right-wing respondents chose critical thinking, compared to 75% on the left.
The most significant discrepancy was recorded around the value “Connection to Tradition”, which was chosen by 70% from the right but only 9% from the left.
“It’s pleasing to see that the values of patriotism and connection to Zionism are at the top of the chart, and that most of Israel’s public understands that it is important to instill these values in the students of Israel’s educational system”, stresses Avivi. “However, the ideological differences in relation to these values is worrying, and prove what we at the IDSF HaBithonistim movement have been saying all along – Zionism has become essential to politics, and these findings represent a great threat to the justness of our path and to our existence here”.
The educational system as an identity shaping agent
With the understanding that the educational system plays an important role in shaping students’ personal and national identity, some of the survey’s questions were directed at the Jewish respondents while other – at the Arab respondents.
Thus, for example, the Jewish participants were asked what they thought were the most important subject to emphasize in the pedagogical curriculum in order to connect students to their Jewish identity and heritage. The subject that was cited the most was the history of the Jewish nation and the Holocaust, which was selected by 62% of the Jewish participants, followed by the history of the Land of Israel (47%), holidays and tradition (40%), the geography of Israel (40%) and the history of Zionism (33%).
A look at the ideological segmentation between right, center, and left on the political map shows that there are almost identical findings on the topics of the history of the Jewish people, as well as the history of Zionism. However, there were marked differences regarding other areas of knowledge. For example, 53% of the right-wing respondents chose holidays and tradition, compared to 12% on the left; 7% on the right chose Israeli literature and culture, compared to 37% on the left.
It seems that there is a broad consensus in Israel’s public in regard to most fields of knowledge that should be on the educational curriculum. However, these are still discrepancies regarding other fields of knowledge, especially those pertaining to religious subjects. Generally speaking, the right-wing traditionally tends to have a stronger affiliation to religion, which may explain why those respondents placed the subject of holidays and tradition higher. As oppose to them, the left traditionally is more connected with humanities and non-religious philosophy which is why those respondents preferred the subjects of literature and culture.
Over the years, voices have been rising from within the Arab population criticizing the Arab education in Israel, and suggesting various reforms aimed at bringing it up to par. To gauge the sentiment in Arab society the Arab participants were asked to respond to a number of questions tailored to them. Two of these questions pertained to the body that should be in charge of formal education programs for Israeli Arabs. The first question focused on general subjects such as math, English and sciences. The second question focused on the subjects that are tightly connected with the national ethos, such as history, literature and civic studies.
The results clearly indicate that the majority of the Arab public prefers leaving the state of affairs as it is – i.e. responsibility for the curriculum for Arab students under the Education Department of the Arab Society in the Israeli Ministry of Education (58% and 49% support this, respectively). Some of the participants noted that they would like the curriculum to be transferred to the responsibility of an Arab pedagogical council, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, similar to the pedagogical councils of the state-religious and ultra-Orthodox schools (37% and 41%, respectively). Only a minority of the respondents indicated that they would like to see the Arab sector’s curriculum transferred to the responsibility of a body appointed by the educational system in the Palestinian Authority (5% and 10%, respectively).
In addition to the separate questions, both demographics were asked whether they would send their children to a mixed Jewish-Arab school. The results are almost completely opposite, with 68% of the Jewish respondents said they wouldn’t send their children to a mixed school, and only 32% agreed, whereas among the Arab respondents, 29% objected and 71% agreed.
These findings may stem from the distrust of the Arab society on part of the Jewish society in the wake of October 7, and therefore most Jews are not interested in having their children learn with their Arab counterparts. Also, it may stem from the discrepancy between the Jewish and Arab educational systems, and perhaps Arab parents believe that their children could acquire better education in Jewish schools. Another cause may be greater solidarity with Jews among the Israeli Arab population after October 7.
The IDSF HaBithonistim movement sees education as a cornerstone in shaping Israel’s future citizens, preserving the national ethos, and strengthening national security, and therefore takes the results of this survey very seriously.
Above all, it seems that the majority of the public – regardless of sectoral or political affiliation – believes that the educational system in Israel is failing to prepare students for life. Moreover, most participants believe that schools should place less emphasis on grades and more emphasis on values, and promote teamwork and cooperation among students.
