Tel Aviv University carried out a major study on Israeli public opinion covering the period from 8 to 15 January 2024. The findings are surprising.
Outside of Israel, one cannot fully understand the way in which the 7 October attack was experienced by the Israeli population and the evolution of their thinking ever since. Jewish Israelis were convinced that their country was an inviolable sanctuary, which provided them with absolute security. By its very existence, the State of Israel protected them from a new “shoah”. The shattering of this belief on October 7 triggered in them an inextinguishable panic.
They then turned to their government for security, but it failed to rally them behind a government of national unity. After much hesitation, a war cabinet was set up which, instead of promoting unity, sowed utter discord, with ministers insulting each other and slamming doors. The impotence of the Israeli leaders was showing through. The Zionist myth was falling apart. The panic experienced by the Israeli population turned into a frenzied thirst for more and more bloodletting.
Initially, the Israelis denounced the spiral of violence and called for restraint, to the extent that Benyamin Netanyahu’s coalition was reluctant to send ground troops to Gaza.
Today, 88% of Jewish Israelis think that the 25,000 Palestinian civilian casualties are justified, while half of the Arab Israelis react humanely and lament the deaths of both sides.
In their blindness, Jewish Israelis are divided according to their prior convictions. Those who feel they belong to a superior people and who supported Benajmin Netanyahu’s coalition want above all to exterminate Hamas, while those who wanted to live in peace alongside their neighbors and were against the coalition are calling for the release of the hostages.
When considering what will come after the war, 61% of Netanyahu’s coalition supporters think there will be no true peace in Gaza, hence 90% of them demand that control of Gaza remain in the hands of Israel. Those who oppose Netanyahu’s coalition prefer to see Gaza under international control. While half of Arab Israelis believe peace is possible, only 9 percent of Jewish Israelis would be prepared to embrace it.
Regarding the installation of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territory of Gaza, 79% of Israeli coalition supporters applaud it, while 74% of the opposition reject it.
We may therefore conclude that only one third of the Israeli population respects international law.
Source : this article was gleaned from Voltaire, international newsletter, n°72.