Public Opinion towards Agriculture and Rural Areas in Israel

Rural areas in general and the agricultural sector in particular have experienced dramatic structural changes in recent decades. As in most advanced countries, the number of farms in Israel declined considerably while their size increased. Fewer rural residents are employed in agriculture, while non‐farm employment and gentrification are wide‐spread. From a policy perspective, agriculture has moved from a planned sector, mostly organized in cooperatives, and heavily dependent on subsidies, to a loosely organized, minimally supported and competitive sector (with the exception of a few branches). Recently, rural and agricultural policy became more sensitive to public opinion regarding sustainability, health concerns, food prices, resource allocation, and social justice. A major change in agricultural support policy, of moving from indirect to direct support, is currently being contemplated. This paper deals with public opinion towards agriculture and rural areas in Israel, and public policy towards them. Based on a telephone survey conducted in June 2014, it was found that most people think that the government needs to increase its support of agriculture in rural areas, but are not willing to bear the cost of such support. People prefer local foods but are not willing to pay a premium for this. On the other hand, people are willing to pay a premium for healthier food. Farmers' behavior towards foreign workers in agriculture is perceived to be unacceptable and harms the image of the agricultural sector as a whole. Support for agriculture and support for rural areas seem to be highly correlated. In general, stronger support is found among women, Israeli Arabs, the less educated, those who reside in localities with low socio‐economic status, and those who previously lived in rural areas. This raises the concern that public support of agriculture and rural areas will decline further as the Israeli population becomes more educated and more economically secure. This Poses a challenge for the rural sector to expose the urban population to the positive social, environmental and economic externalities of agriculture and of course to minimize the impacts of negative externalities.