תרומה והתנדבות בישראל בתחילת מגפת הקורונה: שאלה של סולידריות?

The human response to humanitarian, natural, or man-made disasters is characterized by a convergence of individuals, communities, public entities,businesses, and civil society organizations – mobilizing to support those affected in various forms, including donations and volunteering.These giving trends are closely related to social solidarity. The two-way relationship between solidarity and giving that characterizes a close-knit society is particularly highlighted during crises. Since abundant evidence exist of an increase in giving behavior during various crises in the world and in past crises in Israel, and in light of the claim that Israeli society is a solidary society, an increase in giving behavior during the Covid-19 crisis was reasonably expected.We tested this hypothesis through a longitudinal study that included weekly surveys on donations and volunteering in 88 independent weekly representative samples of the Israeli adult population, in two periods of time:between December 2018-December 2019 and between February 2020-September 2020. The weekly polls included approximately 500 respondents from the Jewish population and approximately 50 respondents from the Arab population (up to the age of 40), totaling 26,737 individual participants,and almost 50,000 responses.Contrary to the initial hypothesis, our analysis of the time series indicates that between February2020-September 2020, there had been a substantial and significant decrease in formal and informal volunteering rates and informal donations, as well as a slight decrease in formal donations. The decrease is particularly prominent among disadvantaged populations that were severely affected socially and economically due to the crisis.Part of the decrease may be explained by the unique characteristics of theCovid-19 crisis, which by its nature hindered volunteering activity. However, our findings also indicate a decrease in solidarity in Israel alongside the appearance of segmented solidarity between ethnic, religious, and national affiliations, as well decreased solidarity with the elderly and persons with disabilities. We suggest several measures that the government and civil society organizations should attempt to strengthen solidarity and ensure an effective response during a crisis.