A year and a day ago, Israel suffered the worst attack in its short history as a nation. The terrorist organization Hamas, ruler of the Gaza Strip since 2006, took advantage of a security failure to attack surrounding towns, costing the lives of more than 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250, of whom 101 remain hostages. The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuthe elimination of Hamas as an operational force was proposed and the result is known: for eleven months, Israeli troops destroyed more than half of the territory of Gaza, causing the displacement and death of more than a million and half of people. tens of thousands of civilians.
During these twelve months, Netanyahu has come under pressure from many of his Western allies and the families of the hostages, as during yesterday’s protests in the country, to promote a ceasefire.
Yesterday, in a statement released by the White House, President Joe Biden He stressed once again that “too many civilians have suffered too much this year and tens of thousands have died, a human toll made worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people.” Biden, he continued, will continue to work “to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that allows the return of hostages, an increase in humanitarian aid to relieve suffering, guarantees the security of Israel and end this war.”
There is no indication that Netanyahu, focused on the Lebanese front, will soon accede to American demands, or even to the majority will of his citizens. The latest poll from the Israel Democracy Institute, released yesterday, says 53% of Israelis favor an end to violence, at least in Gaza. But the study makes some interesting distinctions. Up to 93% of Muslims surveyed support ceasefire. To the same question, only 45% of Jews give the same answer.
Asked about the two-state solution, defended by countries like Spain, 61% of the country’s Jews refuse. On the contrary, nine out of ten Muslims agree. In addition, four out of ten Jews prefer that this Palestinian territory remain under Israeli control once the war is over. Widespread distrust of the Palestinian Authority weighs on responses.
Regardless, there are two fundamental reasons to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The most popular is the return of hostages home, supported by 53% of participants. The second reason is that Israel, they believe, must give priority to the Lebanese front. And this note is important. At the close of the investigation, Hezbollah headquarters had not yet exploded, Hassan Nasrallah and the rest of the Islamist militia leaders lived and warplanes flew over Beirut without bombing it.
There is more valuable data in recently published surveys from Israel. The latest report from the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs shows that two out of three citizens support a direct attack on Iran if Hezbollah continues to attack the north of the country, as in the previous eleven months, forcing the Iran to move towards safer areas. The curious thing is that these questions were asked before Iran launched 200 missiles at Israel last week.
When they go into detail, 37% of respondents make it a condition that the United States accompany them in the blows. And in this matter There are no such significant differences between Jews (39%) and Muslims (29%). All of this data is consistent with a phenomenon recorded last month. The popularity of Netanyahu, harassed before 7-O by his controversial judicial reform and later by the security failures that enabled the attack, has improved.
So if there were elections tomorrow, Likud, his party, would still be at the top of the podium and with more seats to govern with its current coalition of four, according to a recent Channel 12 investigation. And something else: the commissioned consultation. by the newspaper Maariv Before the campaign in Lebanon, he revealed that 47% of Israelis considered Netanyahu, according to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to be the man best suited to lead the country. His main opponent, Yair Lapidis behind, at 34%.
