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Abstract:
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This election study was carried out in two panels. Part 1, Pre-Election Survey, was fielded prior to the elections for the Knesset and Prime Minister held May 17, 1999. Part 2, Post-Election Survey, was fielded following the elections. Part 1 of the study investigates the state of Israel and the upcoming elections. Given a list of candidates including Benjamin Nethanyahu, Ehud Barak, Itzhak Mordechai, Beni Begin, and Azmi Bashara, respondents were asked whose position best reflected their own views on peace and national security, socioeconomic policy, religious tension, and foreign affairs and national security. Respondents were also asked to assess the influence of the following issues on their Knesset voting decisions: Jerusalem, the economy, security policy, social policy, state vs. religion, Lebanon, peace and the territories, Palestinian terrorism, and the corruption trial of Shas party leader Aryeh Deri. A series of questions addressed whether the Israeli government should increase or decrease government expenditures on education, ecology and the environment, religious institutions and Yeshivot, health, security, immigration absorption, assisting the unemployed, settlements in the territories, the Arab sector, supplying jobs, and roads and road accidents. Additional topics covered the extent to which respondents followed media coverage of the elections, how political advertisements influenced their opinions, and for whom they would vote if the election were held that day. Part 2, Post-Election Survey, investigates respondents' electoral decisions and the reasons for their choices. Their views were sought on the focus of the 1999 elections: secular-religious relations, negotiations with the Palestinians, why Barak won, and why Nethanyahu lost. Respondents were asked to assess their trust in political parties, the media, state advocacy, the police, and the Supreme Court. Additional topics covered public support for democracy in Israel, and the establishment of the Palestinian state. Background information on respondents includes age, gender, education, religion, voter participation history, ethnicity, political party membership, political orientation, social class, place of birth, father's place of birth, employment status, monthly expenditures, military service record, number of rooms in the home, and number of people living in the home.
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