9

Time reported on Nov 10:

Poll results were also hawkish when it came to the use of force in Gaza: 57.5% of Israeli Jews said that they believed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were using too little firepower in Gaza, 36.6% said the IDF was using an appropriate amount of firepower, while just 1.8% said they believed the IDF was using too much fire power, while 4.2% said they weren’t sure whether it was using too much or too little firepower.

Has the opinion of Israeli Jews change since then on that matter in some way?

In other words, have there been any other polls on that question in the subsequent 3 weeks (or so)?

I realize that one of those weeks has basically been a ceasefire.

As some comments complained about this Q not mentioning other Israelis (which the Time piece doesn't), digging through those polls they cited, this is the tabulation of the original results:

enter image description here

Israeli Arabs (the only other group polled there) were rather on the opposite side here, with 50.5% saying the IDF used too much firepower, 11.7% saying the IDF used too little, and 18.4% saying the IDF made "appropriate use".

the gods from engineering
  • 158,594
  • 27
  • 390
  • 806
  • 2
    @JMS This Q is asking for a poll. By definition that takes care of your "lump all Jews into any 1 view on many issues" objection. – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Dec 01 '23 at 20:35
  • 2
    I don't think you need to conduct a poll to find out if the IDF has been doing a good job of destroying all the homes and other buildings in the Gaza Strip. You just have to look at photos of all the homes and other buildings in the Gaza Strip that have been destroyed so far. – user57467 Dec 02 '23 at 01:28
  • 1
    @user57467: that's not why I'm asking. The US has been recently pressuring the IDF to scale back its methods. But that could well displease the Israeli public (even more). AFAICT Gallant's statements haven't quite reflected US pressure yet. So that's why I'm curious if there has been any shift in the Israeli public opinion. – the gods from engineering Dec 02 '23 at 04:54
  • 1
    @C.F.G: that's entirely about polls in the US, as far as I can tell. I'm asking about polls in Israel. – the gods from engineering Dec 02 '23 at 11:02
  • @Fizz Sorry, you are right, the title above the polls misled me. – C.F.G Dec 02 '23 at 11:05
  • 1
    @user57467 The quote does not make explicit the "for what?" the poll is asking about, when it asks about "too little/much firepower". But I would dare guess most people answering are not thinking "for leveling all of Gaza", but rather "for eliminating the threats coming from Gaza". The number of buildings destroyed does not seem very relevant here. –  Dec 02 '23 at 18:59
  • 1
    Why specifically Jews? – Roger V. Dec 05 '23 at 09:00
  • 1
    @RogerV.: for comparison purposes with the quote. FYI: Israeli pollsters often make that distinction because Israeli Arabs tend to hold rather different opinions on a range of issues. – the gods from engineering Dec 05 '23 at 09:03
  • There are other groups that are neither Jews nor Palestinian Arabs, but who are quite loyal to their state - like Druze or Bedouin Arabs. "Jews" is also ambiguous - not everyone considered Jewish in the US or Europe is treated as such in Israeli statistics - Law of Return: see Jewish ancestry amendment. – Roger V. Dec 05 '23 at 09:08
  • @RogerV.: what can I say? This is alas how pollsters there often report results see e.g. https://en.idi.org.il/articles/51616 It's not mainly Time's fault. – the gods from engineering Dec 05 '23 at 09:17
  • This is your question - it seems like you deliberately chose to speak of Jew rather than Jewish Israelis and omitted any mentioning of Arabs and their attitudes to October 7 attacks. Clear push question. – Roger V. Dec 05 '23 at 09:23
  • 2
    @RogerV.: it's the quote that has that formulation. I'm less interested in the change in position (if any) of Israeli Arabs because they are not the majority behind the Israeli government. Time doesn't even mention what the Israeli Arabs thought of that issue, although the original polls probably have that too (but they're a bit hard to find.) Anyhow, that info would be ancillary to the Q. – the gods from engineering Dec 05 '23 at 09:27
  • Selective presentation of information (whether by you or the Times) may distort opinions no less than outright lies. – Roger V. Dec 05 '23 at 09:38
  • @RogerV.: ok, I've added the original results, even with a/my text summary for the visually impaired. – the gods from engineering Dec 05 '23 at 09:43

2 Answers2

4

I found the following poll, made by the Israeli Democracy Institute on 19th-20th November, some 3 days before the ceasefire started.

The poll shows that Israeli Jews have voted that "Toppling Hamas", "Releasing all the hostages" and "Restoring deterrence" are all very important goals of the war. However, when asked to rank the goals, the release of the hostages clearly comes as the most critically essential goal. this means that the Israeli public is willing to pay high costs for the release, to the point of making concessions with regard to the the other goals.

Sharon Ben Asher
  • 1,113
  • 6
  • 10
  • 1
    I was aware of that later poll (see comments under the Q), but it alas it doesn't touch on the methods, only on the goals. – the gods from engineering Dec 05 '23 at 09:24
  • 2
    @Fizz Very few governments or military commanders make tactical decisions on the basis of public opinion. In this sense, it remains a push question - trying to put the blame for whatever happens in the battlefield on the Jews. Perhaps, Israelis simply trust their army to act within the norms of the international law, like just like Americans or Europeans do? – Roger V. Dec 05 '23 at 09:57
  • 2
    @RogerV. Public opinion does indeed influence decisions to expand or escalate military activity. It's not determinative, but it is influential. – phoog Dec 05 '23 at 11:56
1

They are somewhat happier now, as a Jan 2024 poll found:

When examining the public's attitudes regarding the extent of the IDF’s use of force in Gaza and its results, the attitudes of the Jewish public are clearly different from those of the Arab public. A large majority of the Jewish public thinks that the IDF uses adequate or too little force in Gaza. Unlike the beginning of the war, now about half of the Jewish public (51% compared to 37% in November) believes that the IDF uses firepower appropriately against Gaza, compared to 43% (58% in November) who believe that there is use of too little firepower. An absolute majority (88%) also justifies the scope of casualties on the Palestinian side when considering the goals of the war. On the other hand, over half of the Arab public (55%) believes that the IDF uses too much firepower against Gaza compared to a fifth (20%) who agree that the scope of firepower use is appropriate. Further, about half of the Arab respondents (53%) believe that the extent of casualties on the Palestinian side is not justified. At the same time, alongside these deep disagreements, over half of both groups (59% among the Jews and 54% among the Arabs) think that the extent of casualties on the Jewish side is unjustified. A significant minority among the Arab public refrains from expressing an opinion regarding the extent of casualties on the Palestinian side (34%) and on the Israeli side (29%).

the gods from engineering
  • 158,594
  • 27
  • 390
  • 806