Peace Index - July 2025
Swords of Iron War: Aims and the Day After
- After nearly twenty-two months of ongoing combat, the current Peace Index survey indicates stability in public opinion regarding the prioritization of hostage release and post-war arrangements. The majority of the Israeli public continues to prefer that the government’s primary objective in the war be the release of the hostages (65%) rather than the elimination of Hamas by any means necessary (28%). This preference for prioritizing hostage release remains overwhelmingly dominant among opposition voters (88%), whereas coalition supporters are divided between favoring Hamas’s elimination (53%) and the release of hostages (47%).
- Relative stability is also evident in public opinion concerning arrangements for the “day after” the war. Among the Jewish public, a slim majority supports continued Israeli security control (58%) alongside civilian administration by international and regional forces (53%). Only about one-third of Jewish respondents (32%) favor Israeli civilian governance of the Gaza Strip.
