Despite low confidence in the gov't, a slight majority of Jewish Israelis support fighting

Over the past several months of the war against Hamas, no question has been as hotly debated in Israel as whether the return of the hostages or the destruction of Hamas should be the main goal of the war.

This highly politicized question has been the subject of numerous opinion polls, many of which have found that a majority of Israelis support a deal to return the hostages even at the price of not destroying Hamas.

A recent poll by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) confirmed this finding but allowed an important distinction: When this question is posed only to Jewish Israelis, who make up the overwhelming majority of IDF soldiers as well as of the hostages, a slight majority favors continuing the war.

JPPI asked: “Of the following options, which is the right thing to do in Gaza?”

The options given were either “Continue the war until the stated goals are achieved (all hostages returned, no Hamas rule)” or “Try to reach an agreement with Hamas, even if it means Hamas remains in power.”

Among Jewish Israelis, 46% support continuing the war, while 45% support an agreement and 9% said they didn’t know.

Among Arab Israelis, who make up slightly less than 20% of the total population, mostly don’t serve in the IDF, and whose parties mostly decline to participate in governments, an overwhelming majority of 88% supports reaching an agreement.

The finding highlights the rationale for the government’s consistent position to decline any final agreement that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

Despite a possible perception that a large majority of Israelis are demanding an end to the war, which is fed through media coverage of the large hostage protests, the government can, in fact, rely on the support of around half the Jewish population.

A similar split can be observed when JPPI asked about Israeli confidence in the government.

While the overall numbers are atrocious and have declined since last month, the percentage of Jewish Israelis who expressed “high” confidence in the government has slightly risen over the past year and a half, from 34% at the start of 2024 to 38% today.

Among Arab Israelis, 83% say they have “low” trust in the government, compared to 60% among Jews.

JPPI’s poll also asked who Israelis thought was most responsible for the recent failures in reaching a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Just over half of Arab Israelis “mainly” blamed the Israeli government, 22% said Israel and Hamas shared the blame, while only 5% said that responsibility was “mainly” on Hamas.

However, among Jewish Israelis, 22% blamed Hamas and Israel to equal parts. Only 15% put the main blame on Israel’s government, while 58% said the main responsibility was on Hamas.

When responses to the same question were broken down by self-identified ideological affiliation, major gaps emerged.

Among those who identified as center-right or right, 71% and 90% respectively, mainly blamed Hamas.

This demonstrates again that the government, despite large-scale demonstrations and foreign pressure, operates with strong support for its war policies within its electoral camp.

Among Israelis who identify as centrists, the blame is divided almost evenly, as 28% primarily blame Israel, 31% blame Hamas, and 34% blame both parties equally.

On the center-left, 33% primarily blame Israel, 15% blame Hamas, and 46% blame both parties.

Among those identifying as left, a whopping 42% primarily blame Israel, only 8% blame Hamas, and 47% blame them equally.

The responses on the center-left and left serve to explain the desperation, anger, and hate displayed against the government during demonstrations.

The poll shows that most participants mainly blame the government for failing to release the hostages, in their eyes making the government directly responsible for their deaths.

JPPI’s August iteration of its Israeli Society Index was collected between July 31 and August 4, 2025, among 791 Israeli respondents, Jews and Arabs.