Israel and the United States: perceptions of dependence

Historical material. Dates, proposals and invitations refer to the time of the original publication.

Israelis public opinion is characterized by a perception of a very high level of dependence of Israel on the USA in most key areas. In all the studied areas, the Israel dependence index has positive values, indicating dependence rather than independence. Moreover, three areas (military security, economy, and foreign policy) are characterized by a very high degree of dependence, with index values exceeding 50 percentage points on a scale ranging from 100 (maximum dependence) to -100 (maximum independence).

Dependence across five areas

Dependence by area: published indices

−1000+100

Military security	+72.3 index pts
Domestic politics	+39.7 index pts
Culture and science	+27.1 index pts
Foreign policy	+69.4 index pts
Economic stability	+62.8 index pts

Original chart

Table 6. To what extent do you think Israel’s position depends or does not depend on its relations with the United States in each of the following areas? %

The answers regarding Israel’s independence from the United States in different areas differ significantly in the groups identified by the secularity-degree of religiosity criterion[1], but a general trend is noticeable: the values of the answers regarding Israel’s dependence on the United States increase in all areas as the degree of religiosity decreases. In other words, the highest assessments of such dependence are given by secular Israelis, and the lowest by religious ones.

Differences between groups

Dependence: secular and religious respondents

−1000+100

Military security · Secular	+80.5 index pts
Military security · Religious	+65.9 index pts
Foreign policy · Secular	+75.8 index pts
Foreign policy · Religious	+58.9 index pts
Economic stability · Secular	+68.7 index pts
Economic stability · Religious	+51.2 index pts

Original chart

Table 6.2 To what extent do you think Israel’s position depends or does not depend on its relations with the US in various areas? % /secularity – religiosity

The results of the responses to this question depend little on the gender of the respondents, and on age only in certain areas – military security, foreign policy, and economics. This is likely due to the importance that respondents attribute to these areas. In any case, in the mentioned areas, the dependency index values, calculated similarly to the previous question, increase from younger age groups to older ones.

Age and perceptions of dependence

Age and perceptions of dependence

−1000+100

Military security · 18–34	+69.2 index pts
Military security · 55+	+83.0 index pts
Foreign policy · 18–34	+62.1 index pts
Foreign policy · 55+	+74.4 index pts
Economic stability · 18–34	+57.2 index pts
Economic stability · 55+	+67.2 index pts

Original chart

Table 6.3 To what extent do you think Israel’s position depends or does not depend on its relations with the United States in various areas? % /age

By level of education, a reliable pattern of change in position regarding Israel’s independence is noticeable only in the area of military security: the higher the level of education, the more often respondents say that it depends on the United States.

Table 6.3 To what extent, in your opinion, does Israel’s position depend or not depend on its relations with the United States in the area of military security % / education

Education and income

In the group of respondents, distinguished by the level of material wealth, the fundamental differences in the answers also concern mainly the military security of Israel, and, to a lesser extent, the stability of the economy. The higher its level of material wealth, the more often there are ideas about Israel’s dependence in both of these areas.

Table 6.4 To what extent, in your opinion, does Israel’s position depend or not depend on its relations with the United States in the following areas: % /material wealth

Judging by the values of the index of Israel’s dependence on the United States, the Arab sector considers it dependent in the sphere of military security and foreign policy more than the Jewish sector (the difference in the values of the corresponding index is 10 points). In the Jewish sector, the index of Israel’s dependence is significantly higher in the domestic political sphere (the difference is 15 points), culture and science (25 points).

Table 6.5 Indices of dependence of Israel’s position on its relations with the United States in various spheres: /national sector

Population sector

Country of birth

Across all five measures, Israel-born respondents perceive less dependence on the United States than former-USSR-born respondents. Published indices range from 27.4 to 72.3 and 35.0 to 83.1, respectively. The simple means of these five measures are 54.56 and 65.42.

Table 6.6. Dependence indices of Israel’s position on its relations with the USA in various spheres: /country of birth

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How the index was calculated

[1] Due to the heterogeneity of the data, the Index of Israel’s dependence on the United States in different areas was calculated by assigning weights to the answer options in accordance with the degree of manifestation of the sign: it depends very much — 1, it depends enough — 0.75, almost does not depend — 0.35, does not depend (-) 1. Then the index values ​ ​ were calculated as the sum of the products between the fractions of the answers and the corresponding weights for each option.