Are we experiencing the moral decline of Israeli youth or is it just wishful thinking? There is, to be sure, a plethora of ills buried in the hearts and minds of the Israeli people, however, among them are not the results of a recent survey conducted on the youth of this nation. It is the wishful thinking of Israel's self appointed "intellectual elite" that our youth display aggressive, militaristic, authoritarian and ethnocentric attitudes thrust upon them by Judaism and Zionism. These gentlemen of high culture have too much savvy to state their objections to Judaism and Zionism outright and cloak their disdain of such notions in imaginative euphemisms of modern psychology. What is so quickly left aside is the fact that the Israeli culture has been dominated and sculpted by socialists and non-believers of traditional Judaism from its inception. Any remnants of either Judaism or Zionism in Israeli society have been hard fought and are hardly recognizable in their diluted forms.

It is another political ploy utilized by the haters of everything not to the left of Mao that casts the youth of Israel in such anti-modern roles. Remember the praises heaped upon the young people during the Rabin-Peres era? Only a few short months ago it was the youth who were said to be at the vanguard of a new and glorious society. The same children whose wonders never ceased to amaze Leah Rabin are now the progeny of Mussolini. Uri Avnery, the ever vigilant recreator of all things Jewish, has, along with his Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc), coined the phrase: "Everyone must ask himself/herself: what did I do today to topple this government?" (No, this is not incitement or sedition in the post-Rabin Orwellian Israel. Anti-government rhetoric is only inciteful or seditious and punishable with incarceration if it comes from the political "right," i.e., those who hold by antiquated sources like the Bible or Ze'ev Jabotinsky - l'havdil.) Daily, the Peace Bloc spews forth "evidence" of how bad a place Israel is without the authoritarian rule of the Left. We shall leave aside the fact that the ever-present and dominant ideological forces of the left have always controlled the State of Israel.

What is this survey and what does it tell us? In 1994 the Education Ministry commissioned the Carmel Institute for Social Research to survey Israeli youth on their attitudes toward a variety of social and personal issues. The survey found, inter alia, an Israeli youth preoccupied with mimicking American and European societal trends. They want good jobs, professional satisfaction, family, children and success in school. Rather than preferences arising from economic or ethnic distinctions, the survey found that opinions most differed between the religious and secular segments of the population.

Not so surprising and to the probable outrage of the political left, 86% of the Jewish students said they "want" or "want very much" to join the IDF. In regard to serving in combat units, here again the different responses seem to be indicative of religiosity of the young person's education. As compared to the responses from a 1988 survey to similar questions, students in national religious schools marginally increased their desire to serve in combat units, while the same desire decreased significantly in non-religious schools.

Here's the kicker: According to the survey over one-third of Jewish Israeli youth hated Arabs and a large two-thirds majority were against giving Israeli Arabs full and equal rights. Although the hatred of Arabs has dropped from the 1988 figures, Israeli media was quick to point out that anti-Arab sentiments were strongest among students in religious schools. The students are aware that the official press organs of Egypt still depict Israelis as Nazis. Syria talks of nothing but evil of the Zionist entity. Jordan supported the Iraqi scuds as they hit Israeli soil. The Arabs of Judea and Samaria danced on their roofs when the scuds flew over head and according to the most recent polls support suicide bombers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Palestinian Authority police kill 15 Israelis in shoot outs, while molotov cocktails thrown by Arab youth is a daily occurrence. Should any of this be part of the opinion making process of Israeli students as they form ideas about life?

Additionally, students as a whole expressed disgust at Israel's party and coalition politics, voicing their desire for a strong leader. This expression is being labeled by the left as authoritarian. Whether or not this accusation has merit, surely it is legitimate to argue that this opinion was bolstered by the Labor led brand of government during their last administration.

The renewed attention to the survey initiated by the left spawned two editorials in the Jerusalem Post (Nov. 27 "A Generational Challenge" - Editorial Staff and Nov. 29 "The 'Man On Horseback'" -Amiel Ungar), a supposed "right-wing" publication, decrying both the normalcy of the results and bemoaning the old "writing is on the wall" call for policy makers to take note. The reactionary attitudes of the "right" play into the hands of those who must ask themselves "what did I do today to topple this government?".

One other survey that deserves a little attention is one that made some headlines in the November 1st edition of the Haaretz daily newspaper. The survey, again of school children, was conducted in 27 countries in Europe, Israel and "Palestine". It seems that the highest admiration for Adolph Hitler can be found in "Palestine". The Arab youth of Judea, Samaria and Gaza out-admire Hitler and Nazism over any people on the European continent. This is not to mention the high esteem felt for Nazism within the Israeli Arab sector, but it cannot compare to the attraction held by the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. To offset the horror of this finding, the newspaper decided not to highlight the Arab love of Hitler, but instead to concentrate on the evils of Israeli students' opinions. As if wounded to the bone, Haaretz lamented between its barbs at the Israeli political right that Israeli students, especially the religious, displayed too much nationalism and militarism by pronouncing "country" as a high priority when listing those things most important.

Israel, as a body politic is highly complicated. The complexities that form the opinions and attitudes of today's youth are a product of confusion and mixed signals from society as a whole. The signs may be many and mixed regarding our young people, but what it does not indicate is certain. It is not a validation of the Peace Bloc nor the left at all, rather it is at minimum a condemnation of a nation whose values are at the same time traditional and post-modern. The combination is as volatile as it is uncertain. To ensure the future of the next generation, strong roots of nationhood and purpose should be at the heart of the educational system. Without some rectification in our educational system further polarizations will contribute to the destablization of the Jewish State. The moral decline is in the political dialogue of the nation not in our young people. The political hay of the left is no more than straw consumed by the donkey.
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