Poll: Two-thirds of Israelis support strike on Iran if Hezbollah attacks continue
Survey finds Jews overwhelmingly distrust PA to prevent repeat of Oct. 7, oppose 2-state-solution; long-term IDF occupation of south Lebanon backed by 41% of Jewish population
Some 68 percent of Israelis support a direct attack on Iran if its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah continues launching rockets at Israel, according to a poll released by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
According to the think tank, 37% of respondents said they would support such a strike only if it is coordinated with the United States, including 39% of Jewish and 29% of Arab respondents; and 31% — including 33% of Jews and 18% of Arabs — said they would support a strike even without such coordination. On the other hand, 14% — comprising 13% of Jews and 18% of Arabs — opposed a strike, while the rest said they didn’t know.
Among Jewish respondents, the poll also found 41% support for a long-term military occupation of southern Lebanon; 72% opposition to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict; and 92% doubt the Palestinian Authority could be trusted to stop a repeat of October 7.
The poll was conducted between September 29-30 — before Iran attacked Israel with a massive salvo on ballistic missiles on Tuesday night — among 700 Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel aged 18 and over. The JCFA statement did not include a margin of error for the survey or the proportion of Arab to Jewish respondents.
Following Tuesday’s attack — Iran’s second-ever direct strike on Israel — Jerusalem was reportedly mulling a strike on Iran’s oil or nuclear facilities.
JCFA also asked respondents how they thought the tensions on the northern border should be resolved, in a segment of the poll conducted before Israel announced the beginning of limited ground operations in Lebanon on Monday night.
Israel has long threatened the move following months of rocket fire from Hezbollah at northern communities, many of which are Arab. Last month, Israel added to its official war aims the return home of some 60,000 northerners, who were evacuated shortly after October 7 Hezbollah-led forces began its cross-border attacks.
In the poll, JCFA found 37% support — 41% among Jews and 15% among Arabs — for a long-term military occupation of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based. Thirty-two percent — 49% of Arabs and 29% of Jews — supported a diplomatic settlement with securities from the international community; one-fifth — 21% of Jews and 15% of Arabs — supported an international peacekeeping force; the rest said they didn’t know.
Respondents were also asked if they think a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza would de-escalate the situation on the border with Lebanon and allow evacuated northern residents to return home; whether, following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, they support the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank; and if they trust the PA, Hamas’ Ramallah-based rival, to prevent such an onslaught in the future.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah — who Israel killed in a massive airstrike on Beirut Friday — had said his group would stop firing at Israel the moment hostilities in Gaza ceased. Since November, negotiations led by Washington, Egypt and Qatar have failed to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 101 hostages still there.
Asked if such a deal could resolve the tensions in the north and enable displaced residents to go home, 32% of respondents — 58% of Arabs, 27% of Jews — said yes; 46% of respondents — 51% of Jews, 19% of Arabs — said no; and the rest said they didn’t know.
On a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after October 7, 66% of respondents said they opposed the idea, including 72% of Jews and 27% of Arabs.
One-fifth of Jews and 17% of Arabs — 19% overall — said they would support establishing a Palestinian state if it were demilitarized and accepted Israel as a Jewish state. Meanwhile, 31% of Arabs and 0% of Jews — 5% overall — supported the unconditional establishment of a Palestinian state, and the rest said they didn’t know.
A whopping 92% of Jewish respondents were doubtful the PA could prevent a repeat of the October 7 onslaught, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, mostly civilians. Overall, 84% of Israelis, including 43% of Arabs, thought the PA could not prevent the recurrence of such an attack.
Five percent of respondents thought the PA was up to the task, including 21% of Arabs and just 2% of Jews. Eleven percent said they didn’t know, including 6% of Jews and 36% of Arabs.
JCFA, an independent think tank founded in 1976, bills itself as “Israel’s global embassy for national security and applied diplomacy.” It has been skeptical of a two-state solution, saying demands for a Palestinian state are “mired in misinformation, confusion, and misunderstanding.”
