Israelis: Gov’t Needs to Act on Climate Change

Three in four Israelis believe that there is a connection between pollution and global warming and that their government needs to act to deal with the problem.

Some 72 percent of respondents said that climate change endangers humanity. Almost 80 percent say they are willing to separate trash for recycling if the bin is close to their home, and 45 percent are willing to cut back on travel in private vehicles to reduce air pollution.

Israeli Arabs are more concerned about air pollution (72 percent) than are non-Orthodox Israeli Jews (64 percent) and Orthodox Jewish Israelis (38 percent).

Nonetheless, climate change is not a big factor in national elections, as only 30 percent of those polled say climate change affects their vote for Knesset (Parliament) members.

The survey was carried out by the Israel Democracy Institute.

— Aaron Leibel

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Veteran journalist Aaron Leibel writes for The Jerusalem Post and Washington Jewish week. He is the author of the acclaimed memoir, Figs and Alligators: An American Immigrant’s Life in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, available from Amazon in Kindle and paperback, Barnes and Noble, and at every local bookstore in the U.S. and Canada.