(via Haaretz, Ynet).Young Israelis are moving much further to the right politically, according to a Friedrich Ebert Foundation's Youth Study released on Thursday.
The study found that 60 percent of Jewish teenagers in Israel, between 15 and 18 years old, prefer "strong" leaders to the rule of law, while 70 percent say that in cases where state security and democratic values conflict, security should come first. A similar picture emerges in the 21 to 24 age group.
According to the data, the importance of democracy as a national goal among Israeli teens has dropped from second place in 1998 (26%) to third place in 2010 with just 14.3%. Meanwhile, the importance of "Jewishness" as a national goal has climbed from third place (18.1% in 1998) to first place in 2010 with 26%.
Analysis of the data shows that a majority of Israel's youth (42%) believe that the Jewish-Arab conflict is the biggest threat to the State of Israel, Asked how they feel when they think of Arabs, 25% responded with "hate" and 12% responded with "fear".
57% of Jewish youth favor negotiations with the PA, As to the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, 72% of the Jewish respondents said they do not believe negotiations will lead to peace, and most prefer that the present situation continue.
The right wing enjoyed a clear majority of support among the young people surveyed. Among Jews, the numbers stood at 57 percent and 66 percent for the two age groups respectively, while those who said they considered themselves to be left wing made up only 13 percent and 10 percent of those respondents.
The support for the right rose overall from 48 percent to 62 percent during the study's 12-year period, while support for the left fell from 32 percent to 12 percent.