Ido Ben-Sasson

Ido Ben-Sasson is currently Head of Budgeting at the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority. Previously, he worked at the Ministry of Finance and at Bank Leumi, gaining extensive experience in public finance and economic policy.

He holds an M.A. in Public Policy (2021) from Tel Aviv University, an M.A. in Economics and Business Administration (2006) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a B.A. in Economics and Jewish History (2003) from the Hebrew University.His M.A. thesis, supervised by Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, examined institutional trust in sectoral societies in Israel. The study analyzed levels of trust among Haredi communities, Ethiopian-Israelis, and the general population toward public institutions such as the police, the military, the fire and rescue services, the judicial system, and local authorities. The findings indicate that minority groups demonstrate lower levels of institutional trust, with Ethiopian-Israelis exhibiting the lowest levels overall. Trust was found to be shaped primarily by individuals’ general disposition toward public institutions rather than by direct encounters with specific institutions, except in high-contact institutions such as the police and local authorities. An experimental manipulation further showed that representatives of highly trusted institutions enjoy greater personal credibility, though this does not necessarily increase trust in the messages they convey. The research highlights the particularly low trust accorded to enforcement institutions and underscores the link between perceived marginalization and diminished institutional trust.