Oct 7: Polls reveal how Israel has changed after one year

A lot has changed since Oct. 7, 2023, and new polls reveal quantitatively just how much. Looking at the results of a new survey by Katar Insights and Israel's Kan public broadcaster, as well as data collected by Gallup opinion polls, we can get a statistical grasp on how Israel is doing a year after the worst terror attack in the nation’s modern history.

Almost one-quarter of Israelis have considered leaving their homeland, according to research conducted by Katar Insights and Kan, as reported by The Times of Israel. More than just being a passing thought, a significant proportion of those weighing the possibility have started taking practical steps to do so.

Almost a quarter (24%) have gone so far as to check housing options overseas, while others began searching for jobs (21%) and schools for their children (5%). About 15% have taken steps to get a foreign passport or visa.

Still, according to the survey, the vast majority of Israelis have not considered such a move, with 67% saying that they haven't thought about leaving, and only 1% indicating that they have already left and returned – or are planning to return. Furthermore, of the 23% who have considered emigrating, many are not thinking of a permanent move but were thinking of returning after some time. 

Among those expressing a desire to leave Israel, voters supporting opposition parties were more likely to consider leaving (36%) compared to coalition voters (14%). Likewise, secular respondents were more inclined to consider emigrating than those from a religious background.

The global analytics company, Gallup, conducted face-to-face interviews with Israelis at several points after Oct. 7. The most recent Gallup surveys in Israel from July and August polled a random sample of 1,001 Israelis who were asked to “tell a story of a country at war and still struggling to recover from its darkest day in recent history.”

The summary of the research concluded that “Israelis feel less worried, stressed and sad today than they did in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attacks, but they no longer feel as emotionally or physically safe as they did in the years before.”

Gallup measured levels of worry, sadness, and stress among respondents, asking, “Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday?” The emotions were unsurprisingly at extreme levels immediately following the attack, but have gradually eased over time.

According to Gallup's data, daily stress levels have dropped by 28 percentage points to 34%, worry by 24 points to 43%, and sadness by 23 points to 28%. Despite the decline, Gallup noted that the levels remain significantly high and further reported that “no other country had ever seen such a large year-on-year increase in negative experiences” since the World Poll began tracking emotional well-being nearly two decades ago.