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The assessment of Israeli democracy provides a multidimensional picture of the Israeli public's sentiments regarding the state of democracy: the importance the public attributes to democracy, the public's assessment of Israel as a democratic state, public satisfaction with the functioning of Israeli democracy, and the public's sense of the extent to which the political system and its elected officials represent them.
The Israeli public in July 2026 rates Israel as a democratic country with a score of 5.5 (on a scale of 0–10), while satisfaction with the functioning of Israeli democracy stands at 4.6, a slight decline compared to June in both measures. The public continues to attribute high importance to living in a democratic country (8.5). The gap between the high importance the public attributes to living in a democratic country and the low level of satisfaction with its functioning continues to reflect a sense of disappointment with the realization of democratic values in practice.
April 2026 data indicates a low sense of political representation among the Israeli public. 14% of the public feel that the political system represents them and 24% feel that there is a party or politician that represents them.
The sense of representation has remained consistently low throughout the entire period since measurements began. On average, only one in ten citizens feels that the political system represents them, and only one in five feels that there is a specific political entity that represents their positions. While the first figure reflects a loss of trust in the system as a whole (and is not fundamentally different from trust in the Knesset), the second figure indicates that a large majority of the public does not see any currently elected entity as representing them. In the absence of correction of this feeling, the public will choose other ways to express their interests.
In April 2026, there was a slight decrease in the sense of specific representation (from 26% in December to 24%), but an increase in the sense of general representation by the political system (from 12% to 14%). Both senses of representation remain significantly low.
Suggested Citations:
Institute for Liberty and Responsibility. 2026. "Public Trust Report July 2026". Institute for Liberty and Responsibility Surveys, Reichman University.
