 "Demonstrators in Israel's Tel Aviv, calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the Oct 7 attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants. AFP")
The majority of Israelis support ending the war in the Gaza Strip permanently and creating a pathway to a Palestinian state as part of a US-brokered deal to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia, according to a survey.
Now that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire, the Donald Trump administration of the United States is set to resume the efforts of the previous Joe Biden administration to strike a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia for the normalisation of bilateral relations. The Biden adminstration’s efforts, which were deemed close to coming to fruition, were derailed by the October 7 attack. The Saudi Arabia has said a pathway to Palestinian statehood is essential to the deal.
A survey by the aChord research institute at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem has found that 55 per cent of Israelis support the permament end of the war in Gaza and 60 per cent Israelis support the creation of a pathway to a Palestinian statehood as part of a Trump-brokered normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia.
The survey, shared by Barak Ravid of Axios on X, reported that most of the Israelis believe that bringing all hostages back is more important than dismantling Hamas.
The survey’s findings have come at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated he would break the ceasefire deal after the first phase and resume the war against Hamas. His far-right ally, Bezalel Smotrich, has said he would quit the ruling coalition if the ceasefire deal would advance to the second phase. Smotrich’s withdrawal would likely lead to the collapse of Netanyahu’s government.
Most Israelis prefer end of war in Gaza, peace with Arabs: Survey
The aChord institute’s survey, conducting during January 20-21, found that 55 per cent Israelis support the three-stage deal that will ultimately release all hostages in exchange for a complete ceasefire whereas just 20 per cent oppose it.
However, 59 per cent admit that the deal damages Israel’s security situation, but an even larger majority at 86 per cent believe that there is a moral obligation to do everything possible to bring all hostages home, according to the survey.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsEven if there are some violations of the deal by Hamas, 53 per cent of Israelis support the completition of the deal that would bring all hostages home in exchange of a permanent end of the war.
When it came to global and regional issues, the survey reported that 60 per cent Israelis believed Trump would act in Israel’s interests.
The most interesting finding was regarding regional peace and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The survey reported that 60 per cent of the Israeli public and 86 per cent of Opposition voters support a US-brokered deal that normalises ties with Saudi Arbia, creates a pathway to a Palestinian state, and rules out the annexation of West Bank.