The majority of Israelis support the withdrawal of all troops from Gaza, a complete ceasefire and a hostage deal, according to new polling.
When asked if they would agree to a deal for the release of all the hostages in return for an end to the war and a withdrawal from Gaza, 56 per cent of Israelis supported the statement, while 29.5 per cent said they supported a deal to release some hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire, and 14.5 per said they did not know.
Arab Israelis were more likely than their Jewish counterparts to support a deal to end the war: 88 per cent of Arabs polled supported a full deal, compared to 50 per cent of Jewish respondents.
When asked if they preferred a partial deal to release some of the hostages, in return for a temporary ceasefire, 34 per cent of Jews said yes, compared with 8 per cent of Arabs.
The new survey polled a representative sample of the Israeli population, comprising 600 Jewish and 150 Arab interviewees. It was conducted by the Viterbi Family Centre for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute between June 30 and July 2.
Polling dissected the respondents based on political leaning and found that a large majority of the Jewish Israel left and centre supported a deal to release all of the hostages – 86 per cent and 63 per cent respectively – while 45 per cent on the right supported a partial deal.
The survey found a divide among Israel’s religious and secular populations. 53 per cent of Haredi respondents said they supported a partial deal, compared with 21 per cent of secular respondents.
Israelis were more divided on how to resolve the tensions on the northern front with Hezbollah.
Forty-two per cent of respondents said Israel should pursue a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah, despite the chances of an additional conflict, but 38 per cent said the country should pursue a military victory against Hezbollah, even at the cost of significant damage to civilian areas.
A large majority of Arab Israelis (75 per cent) said they supported a diplomatic agreement in the north, while among Jewish Israelis, the largest share (43.5 per cent) supported a military campaign. The polling found 11.5 per cent on the political left supported further military action in the north, compared with 28 per cent in the centre, and 59 per cent on the right.
Israelis were divided on how to resolve the tensions on the northern front with Hezbollah. (Israel Democracy Institute)[Missing Credit]
When asked: “To what extent is the current security situation negatively affecting your mood?” A large majority of respondents said that their mood has been negatively affected - but the figure was higher among Arabs than Jewish respondents (81.5 per cent and 66 per cent, respectively).
A majority of Jewish respondents on the political left, centre and right said their mood had been negatively affected by the security situation, but less than half of Haredi and national religious respondents said it had negatively affected their mood.
The survey found a divide among Jews and Arabs when asked if their lives had returned to normality. Among Jews, around 70 per cent said life had returned to pre-war normal, whereas a majority of Arab Israelis reported that their lives had not returned to normal (63 per cent).
The polling found that most Israelis believe tensions with ultra-Orthodox political parties are most likely to bring about the fall of the current government. Most respondents did not say that the continuation of the war in Gaza, the fighting in the north, or failure to reach a hostage deal could lead to the fall of the government. The issue most believed (44.5 per cent) as having the potential to bring down the government was that of tensions between the Haredi parties and the other parties in the coalition, against the backdrop of the conscription of Haredim and the “Rabbis Law” (Jews, 47 per cent, Arabs, 32 per cent).
When asked about the controversial Haradi conscription law, a large majority of Israelis supported such a move, even if it resulted in the breakup of the coalition and new elections. 81 per cent of secular respondents said they supported the law, along with 68 per cent of traditional non-religious and 68 per cent of traditional religions. 24 per cent of Haredim said they supported the policy.
