Generational Gaps in Political Attitudes in Israel: A Longitudinal and Comparative Perspective

This paper examines generational differences in political attitudes and preferences in Israel, with a particular focus on Israeli youth in comparative perspective. While previous studies provide fragmented evidence that younger Israelis differ from older generations on dimensions such as ideological orientation, religion–state relations, economic policy, majority–minority relations, and democratic values, a systematic, longitudinal assessment of these differences remains lacking. The central research question is whether such differences reflect durable generational gaps shaped by formative political experiences, or whether life-cycle effects or short-term political contexts better explain them. The study develops two complementary analytical frameworks. The first situates Israeli youth alongside youth in other countries, allowing for an assessment of whether generational patterns in Israel align with or diverge from broader cross-national trends. The second compares Israeli youth with older generations within Israel, enabling an examination of within-country generational variation. Empirically, the cross-national analysis draws on comparative survey data from the CSES and the World Values Survey. The within-country analysis relies on data from three major Israeli survey projects spanning 1981 to 2025. This extended time frame enables rigorous assessment of age, period, and cohort (APC) dynamics. By examining multiple political domains simultaneously, including security, economic, and cultural dimensions, the paper assesses whether Israeli youth constitute a coherent political generation. Preliminary results indicate that Israeli youth display a distinctive but multidimensional generational profile that both aligns with and diverges from cross-national patterns observed in other Western countries. Similar to trends elsewhere, younger cohorts in Israel tend to exhibit more liberal positions on cultural issues and democratic norms, suggesting partial convergence with broader youth-driven value change in advanced democracies. At the same time, APC analyses reveal sharper and more persistent cohort effects in Israel on security-related attitudes and majority–minority relations, domains in which Israeli youth diverge more strongly from their counterparts in other democracies and from older Israeli cohorts. These differences remain significant after accounting for life-cycle effects, indicating that they are not merely a function of age but reflect cohort-specific socialization experiences. The Israeli case provides a demanding test for existing theories of generational political socialization, most of which were developed in relatively stable democratic settings. Political socialization in Israel takes place under conditions of prolonged conflict, high levels of social polarization, and continuous demographic change. Within this context, the paper pays particular attention to the political consequences of the events of October 7, treating them as a critical period shock. The findings suggest that Israeli youth were politically affected by these events to a greater extent than older cohorts, exhibiting more pronounced shifts in attitudes and political orientations.