Majority of Israelis believe ending Iran war under current conditions contradicts security interests

A majority of Israelis believe that ending the war with Iran is “incompatible with Israel’s security interests” and believe that the United States “has greater influence over Israel’s defense decisions” than their own government, according to a new poll by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute.

The monthly survey of 751 Jewish and Arab Israelis carried out during the last week of April found that 59 percent of Israelis (64% among Jews and 34.5% Arabs) “think an end to the Iran war under the current conditions is only slightly or not at all aligned with Israel’s security interests.”; 52% of Jews on the left, 70% in the center and 65% on the right hold such views.

Twenty-six percent of Jews believe ending the war under current conditions is compatible with Israeli security interests, compared to 48.5% among Arabs.

Sixty-two percent of Israelis (64% of Jews and 52% of Arabs) also believe there is a high likelihood of returning to war with Iran,

Separately, the poll finds that 73% of Israelis believe that “there is a low likelihood of reaching a stable diplomatic-defense agreement with the Lebanese government that includes the disarming of Hezbollah,” with 79% of Jews and 45% of Arabs holding such views; 17% of Jews and 45% of Arabs are optimistic about this.

In terms of general optimism about the future of Israel’s national security, only 39% of respondents polled expressed optimism, down from 47% in March. Optimism regarding the future of Israeli democracy is at 44%.

The poll also found that 51% of Israelis believe “the US administration has greater influence over Israel’s defense decisions than the Israeli government.”; 56.5% of Jews and 25.5% of Arabs hold this view, while 40% of Arabs believe that both have equal influence.

The poll had a maximum sampling error was ±3.58% at a confidence level of 95%.