Peace Index – November 2023
The Israel-Hamas (“Swords of Iron”) War
- At the time of the survey, about two and a half weeks after the events of October 7, a majority of the full sample (58%) thought that the goals of the Israel-Hamas War were not clear enough. This criticism is more acute among voters of the opposition parties, about two-thirds of whom think that the war does not have clear enough goals. Nevertheless, about half of the coalition voters (48%) think the same.
- The aforementioned criticism of the clarity of the war's goals is similar among Jews and Arabs, but both groups differ on the means to be used. The majority of Jews (58%) think that the IDF uses too little firepower against Gaza, and another 37% think that the amount of firepower is correct. In fact, only 2% of the Jewish respondents think that the IDF uses excessive firepower in Gaza. By contrast, the majority of Arabs (51%) think that the IDF uses too much force. In addition, about a fifth of the Arab respondents (19%) have not formed an opinion on the issue or do not wish to express it, compared to only 4% of Jews.
- Similarly, Jewish and Arab respondents also disagree about the war’s desired priorities, and in particular, the dilemma between the elimination of Hamas and the release of the hostages. Almost two-thirds of Jews (63%) cite the elimination of Hamas as the government's most important goal, even more so than the return of those taken hostage. In contrast, Arab respondents are divided between the two alternatives, without a clear majority for either, and about a quarter do not know or do not want to take a position.
