A new survey obtained by Israel Hayom shows that the vast majority of Israelis believe the economy is worse off compared to the equivalent period in 2022 and about half say their economic wellbeing has been adversely affected as well.
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The survey, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, shows that Israelis, by and large, give the government in its tackling of the cost of living 1.8 out of 5. Some 16% of respondents age 65 and up said they had to forgo expenditures of medical care (including drugs) in order to save money and about 30% of those between ages 18 and 44 had to cut back on staple foods and some 15% had to cut back on extra-curricular activities such as private tutoring or clubs.
The figures further show that the number of Israelis who are troubled by the cost of living is greater among younger generation. The vast majority of respondents (75%) said they had to cut back on certain expenditures such as going out, buying a car, including 14% who said they had to avoid buying an apartment or investing in their education and healthcare. About two-thirds say that the cost of food, the cost of buying an apartment and the high indirect taxation were mentioned by respondents as the leading issues concerning them when it comes to the cost of living, with about 60% pointing blame at the government as the one responsible for the situation. Some 27% say the large monopolies are responsible for the high cost of living. Some 56% said they would call the government's conduct on this matter a failure, and only about 8% gave the government a good grade.
"Unsurprisingly, we discovered that Israelis' number one concern is the cost of living," the IDI's Director of the Center for Governance and the Economy Daphna Aviram-Nitzan said. "What is surprising is that the public has pointed to food rather than the housing issue in the spotlight, which means that in their day-to-day lives, the public is more concerned with what they can buy in the supermarket than with other things," she explained, adding, "When all is said and done, the public lives on a day-to-day basis, and people can't get by, this is what gives them most distress."
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