Israelis hunkered down Thursday night and braced for Iran’s promised retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah and Hamas terror masters Fuad Shukr and Ismail Haniyeh. As they did so, Channel 14 broadcast the results of a Direct Polls survey of the public’s perspective on Israel’s strategic condition and imperatives. The results were stunning.
The poll included three questions. The first related to the public’s staying power in the current war, asking, “How long are you willing to live with the war situation?”
Some 22% of Israelis said they have had enough and want the war to end. Another 14% said they are willing to keep the war going for a few more weeks or months. And 64% of Israelis said they would support fighting the war “for as long as it takes.”
The poll then moved to the public’s assessment of whether the July 31 assassinations of the Hezbollah and Hamas kingpins would set back or advance the completion of the war. Of the answers, 21% of Israelis said the assassinations would prolong the war; 10% had no opinion; and 69% of Israelis said the assassinations expedited the completion of the war.
Finally, the public was asked how Israel should respond to Iran’s threatened aggression. Some 35% of Israelis said that Israel should carry out a limited campaign with the goal of achieving a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah. Four percent had no opinion. And 61% said that Israel should not be limiting itself to defense but rather should respond to Iran’s threats with a preemptive strike to block Iran from attacking Israel.
The poll shows definitively that after 300 days of war, the Israeli public maintains its unswerving resolve to see the war through to victory. It is willing to pay whatever price is required to defeat its enemies and understands that there is no diplomatic solution to military problems, only military solutions.
Since you need to defeat your enemies to win a war, Israelis are uninterested in “diplomatic initiatives,” and seek offensive operations to defensive operations.
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