Israel Democracy poll finds most Israeli Jews oppose settlement in Gaza

The latest detailed monthly poll of public opinion in the occupation state has been published by the Israel Democracy Institute. The poll was conducted between 25-28 November, before the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah came into force, and 600 Jews and 150 Arabs were interviewed.

As moves to establish Israeli army bases in Gaza forge ahead, and it has been reported that a well-known settlers’ leader and Israel’s pro-settlement Housing and Construction Minister have actually visited Gaza to survey the area for Jewish settlements, the poll found that the majority of Jews in Israel — 52 per cent — oppose settlement in Gaza, while 42 per cent support it.

The level of optimism among Jewish Israelis regarding the future of national security declined from 53 per cent in October to 44 per cent in November, revealed the poll. Optimism regarding the future of the democratic system also declined from 43 per cent to 38.5 per cent, while there was a slight increase in both of these percentages within Israel’s Arab community.

As for the safest place to live, 71.5 per cent of Jewish respondents said that it is Israel, five per cent said that it is not Israel, and 16 per cent said that it is equally in Israel or somewhere else. Of the Arab respondents, 27.5 per cent said that Israel is the safest place to live, but 38 per cent said that it is not safer in Israel, while 27 per cent said that it is equally safe in Israel or abroad.

In response to a question about whether the state should invest more in building shelters and safe rooms in Arab society due to the high number of Arabs killed and injured by rockets, 71 per cent of Arab respondents said “definitely yes”, but this percentage dropped to only 16.5 per cent among Jews. Twenty-four per cent of Jews and nine per cent of Arabs said that they “believe” that the state should not invest more in building shelters in Arab society, and 21.5 per cent of Jews and two per cent of Arabs said that it “definitely should not” invest more.

When asked about the International Criminal Court in The Hague issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, 61 per cent of Jews and 12 per cent of Arabs attributed them to “the court’s continued anti-Israel bias”; 50 per cent of Arabs and only 10 per cent of Jews said the reason was the way that Israel and its army have managed the war against the Palestinians in Gaza; 24 per cent of Jews and 18 per cent of Arabs, meanwhile, attributed it to Israel’s ineffective media performance around the world in explaining its actions in the war.

While 82 per cent of Arabs and 42 per cent of Jews in Israel also opposed the establishment of an Israeli military government in the Gaza Strip, a Jewish majority of 49 per cent and 11 per cent of Arabs said that they would support such a government in the Strip.

Thirty-one per cent of Jewish respondents to the poll who support Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip justified their position as “correcting the mistake of the unilateral disengagement in 2005”; 25.5 per cent said that “Gaza is part of the Land of Israel”; 23.5 per cent claimed that settlement provides better protection for the towns of the “Gaza Envelope”; and 17 per cent claimed that settlement is “punishment for the events of 7 October.”

The percentage of Jews in Israel who believe or are certain that the Israeli leadership is making every effort to free Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip decreased from 52 per cent in March to 43 per cent in November, and this percentage also decreased among Arab Israelis from 30 per cent to 25 per cent.

Israel’s security will be a central consideration for Donald Trump when shaping US foreign policy after his return to the White House next month think 63 per cent of Jewish and 59 per cent of Arab respondents. Furthermore, 55 per cent of Jews and 38 per cent of Arabs expect that the start of Trump’s term will hasten the end of the war in Gaza and Lebanon, while 14 per cent of Jews and 32.5 per cent of Arabs said that the start of Trump’s term will not hasten the end of the war on any front.

With Netanyahu due to appear in Tel Aviv District Court for his trial on corruption charges as from next Tuesday, 45 per cent of Jewish Israelis and 61 per cent of Arab Israelis stressed that he will not be able to perform properly as prime minister while having to testify before the court.

Finally, 55.5 per cent of Jews and 56.5 per cent of Arabs who responded to the poll said that it is not right now to advance parts of the “judicial reform” plan to weaken the judiciary, while 36.5 per cent of Jews and 25.5 per cent of Arabs said that now is the right time for this move.

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