68 PERCENT OF ISRAELIS ‘EXTREMELY OR VERY CONCERNED’ ABOUT LONG WAR ON GAZA: POLL

Fri 31 May 2024:

A Pew Research Center survey shows a majority of Israelis believe Israel’s war on Gaza is either “about right” or “hasn’t gone far enough”.

The poll was conducted in March and early April before the Israeli military offensive in the southern city of Rafah and renewed operations in Gaza’s north.

The survey shows roughly two-thirds of Israelis expressed confidence at the time that Israel will either “probably” (27 percent) or “definitely” (40 percent) achieve its goals against Hamas.

However, majorities of Israeli adults were worried about some aspects of the conflict: 61 percent said they were “extremely or very concerned” about fighting spreading in the region, and 68 percent said they were “extremely or very concerned” about the war going on for a long time.

Forty percent of Israelis said Israel should govern the Gaza Strip, while 12 percent said the Palestinian Authority should. Fourteen percent thought the people of Gaza should decide that.

At the time, only 26 percent of Israelis said Israel and an independent Palestinian state could coexist peacefully. That’s down from 35 percent last year before the war.

When it comes to what should happen after the war, there is less consensus. A 40% plurality of Israelis think Israel should govern the Gaza Strip. Smaller shares think Gazans should decide who governs (14%) or would like to see a Palestinian Authority national unity government either with (6%) or without (12%) President Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) in leadership.

Separately, 26% of Israelis think a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully with each other – down from 35% who said the same last year, prior to the war, and about half as many as took that position when the question was first asked in 2013.

The Pew Research Center survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with a random sample of 1,001 Israeli adults; the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for overall results.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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