Problems? Who’s got problems?

October 1, 2007 - 10:00 AM by Nicky

You’ve got to hand it to the Israelis. The world seems to think we’re teetering on the brink of a major war with Syria, or some kind of imminent showdown with Iran, but are we worried? Are we heck.

A poll conducted for Israeli news site, Ynet, found that 74 percent of the 500 Jewish Israelis interviewed expect the coming year to be a better one for them personally. Only 7% think it will be a worse year, and 12% think it will be the same. As for the state of Israel, 56% of Israelis feel it will be better than last year, while 20% expect it to be worse.

Interestingly the research showed that the most cheerful group of all were students and soldiers (90% and 85% of whom respectively expect the next year to be better for them personally).

Least optimistic were Meretz voters (left of Labor), with 20% of them expecting next year to be worse than last year personally (compared to the national average of 7%), and 40% predicting that it will be a worse year for Israel.

In the Ynet report, Mitchell Barak, managing director of Keevoon Research and Strategy, which carried out the research, said: “Israelis are generally optimistic, both on a personal and national level, even though many are concerned with security threats, the political situation, the peace process and corruption. We were amazed that the results of this year’s survey were exactly the same as the one we conducted in October 2006.”

Compare this to the Americans. In a national study published this June by researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, they found that while most Americans are optimistic about their own futures (78% feel things are going to be good for them personally), they aren’t half as positive about the future of the US.

Only 44% of interviewees felt confident about the future of America, while just 46% felt positive about the future of the world, and only 37% believe the major problems facing the world can be solved.

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