IDF's operation in Gaza meets with 78% Israeli approval - survey

IDI notes that its survey "found that the government received good grades from the public on the military execution of the operation and care for the home front"

By ZACHARY KEYSER
Updated: MAY 25, 2021 14:15
IDF (Israel Defense Force) Artillery Corps seen firing into Gaza, near the Israeli border with Gaza on May 19, 2021. (photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
IDF (Israel Defense Force) Artillery Corps seen firing into Gaza, near the Israeli border with Gaza on May 19, 2021.
(photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
Some 78% of Israelis approve of the government's handling of the IDF's Operation Guardian of the Walls in Gaza, according to a recent survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI).
In contrast, however, only 31% of the country believes the government communicated the operational goals of the IDF's mission in Gaza to international audiences properly, a public relations blunder that resulted in Hamas riding a wave of popular support across the world - despite it shooting over 4,500 rockets into Israeli territory, of which 60 landed in Israeli cities and towns.
IDI notes that its survey "found that the government received good grades from the public on the military execution of the operation and care for the home front" - the latter of which earned support from 58% of the country - "but Israelis were divided on the question of whether a good job was done communicating the operation's goals to the public."
Connecting political aspirations with the operation in Gaza, some 41% of Jewish Israelis believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harbored an underlying goal behind the all-out assault on the terror groups in the Gaza Strip - as coalition negotiations that could decide the next prime minister continue beyond the operation along with Netanyahu's wish to remain in office - compared to 63% of Arab Israelis who also thought the same.
By political camp, Israelis who lean Left were more likely (87%) to believe the operation had an underlying political goal, compared to those who stand on the Right (23%). Those in the center gave more split answers, with 56% believing there was more to the operation than extinguishing terror from the Gaza Strip.
Comparing the international PR campaign to that of the domestic one, half of Israelis believe that the government did a good job in conveying its operational goals to the public in comparison to the over two-thirds (69%) who believe the international campaign was botched.
Focusing on the civil unrest plaguing the country, which has resulted in clashes between Israeli Arabs and Jews throughout flashpoint cities with mixed populations, around 40% of Israelis believe "that they are just a small minority of extremists who do not reflect the general sentiment among Arab Israelis," compared to 61% of Arab-Israelis who feel the same.
On the contrary, when it comes to Jews harming Arabs during these clashes, a large majority of Jewish Israelis (80%) believe that offenders in these instances represent a "small and unrepresentative minority of extremists" and do not represent a typical sample of the perceptions of most Jewish Israelis around the country. Some (56%) of Arab Israelis concur with this statement, although the gap in perceptions is clear.
Although, as aforementioned, both believe offenders on opposing sides do not reflect the opinions of the Israeli masses.
The survey was prepared and conducted by the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research of the Israel Democracy Institute. Respondents were contacted via telephone and online to voice their opinions on the recent escalations breaking out across Israel. Some 531 respondents were polled in Hebrew, and another 109 were surveyed in Arabic, constituting a representative national sample of the adult population of Israel.