Poll finds 60% of Israelis back proposed hostage-for-ceasefire deal

A poll conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute finds that some 60 percent of Israelis want the country to “accept” the hostage-for-ceasefire deal presented by US President Joe Biden.

That proposal is based on the latest Israeli concessions, which Hamas continues to reject without a guaranteed end to the war.

It also finds that most Israelis want Palestinian civil control of Gaza after the war, with Israel maintaining responsibility for security. However, only 10% want the Palestinian Authority to administer the Strip, while over 60% would like to see it run by local Palestinian entities and Arab states. Notably, over one-fifth of Jewish Israelis want Israel to maintain full control over Gaza after the war.

The monthly poll shows a low level of trust in Netanyahu, and in the government more broadly. Some 56% of Jewish Israelis say they have a “very low” level of trust in the premier, while 74% of Arabs say the same. Almost three-fourths of Israelis said they had a “very low” or “fairly low” level of trust in Netanyahu’s government, a slight decline compared to the May poll.

There has also been a steady decline in public trust in IDF commanders, primarily on the right, while a clear majority of centrist and left-wing Israelis express trust in the army.

Israelis are split on what to do about the ongoing attacks from Lebanon, with 36% urging an all-out attack on the Hezbollah terror group as soon as possible, 26% seeking a war in Lebanon once the Gaza fight is over, and 30% desiring a political settlement.

Notably, over half of Jewish and Arab respondents express the belief that all citizens of Israel share a common future. The percentage of Arab Israelis with that opinion rose over the past year.