Percent replied that this is a condition for accepting a ceasefire
04% Stop the operation immediately and unconditionally
86% Stop the rocket fire into Israel
39% Stop the rocket fire into southern Israel
07% A high number of IDF casualties
85% Destruction or sealing off of all tunnels from Gaza into Israel
77% Disarmament of the Hamas
51% Overthrowing the Hamas regime in Gaza
17% Occupation of Gaza
07% Extensive injury to Israeli citizens who are not IDF soldiers
03% Extensive injury to unarmed Palestinians
08% Extensive loss of lives (Israeli or Palestinian)

Press Release
Division of Communications and Media
University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel

???????????????????????????July 31, 2014
????????????????????
A public opinion survey conducted by the Department of Sociology at the
University of Haifa:

The conditions of 85% of the Jewish-Israeli population to end Operation
Protective Edge - cessation of rocket fire and the destruction or sealing
off of all tunnels from Gaza into Israel

The conditions of 85% of the Jewish-Israeli population to end Operation
Protective Edge - cessation of rocket fire and the destruction or sealing
off of all tunnels from Gaza into Israel. This is according to a public
opinion survey conducted recently by Dr. Yuval Feinstein, a researcher of
nationalism and public opinion from the Department of Sociology at the
University of Haifa. The survey also found that 91% of the Jewish-Israeli
population support or somewhat support ground operations in Gaza, 74% think
that the military action in Gaza achieves their objectives, and only 4.2%
think that Operation Protective Edge was a mistake.
The present survey was conducted on Wednesday to Friday (July 23 to 25)
amongst 1007 interviewees who constitute a representative sample of the
adult Jewish population in Israel, aged 18 and over. The survey was
conducted as part of a study by Dr. Feinstein on nationalism and political
positions in relation to situations of war and peace, and it was conducted
by Midgam Research& Consulting and by iPanel.

As mentioned, support for the operation among the Jewish public in Israel is
almost absolute. 77% greatly support the aerial bombardment of the Gaza
Strip, 17% support it and 4.5% somewhat support it, while only 1.5% of the
Jewish public does not support the bombardment.

Regarding support for the ground operation, 49% are greatly supportive, 28%
are supportive and 14% are somewhat supportive, compared with only 9% who do
not support the ground operations.

82% do not agree that the decision to start Operation Protective Edge was a
mistake and another 11% somewhat disagree, while only 4% think that it was a
mistake (and another 3% somewhat think that it was a mistake).

23% of the Jewish public agrees to a very large extent that the operation is
achieving its objectives and another 51% agree to a great extent. 22.5% of
the Jewish public somewhat agree with this and only 3% feel that the
operation is not achieving its objectives.

As mentioned, 86% and 85% of the Jewish population consider the cessation of
rocket fire into Israel and the destruction and sealing off of all the
tunnels as conditions for ending the operation (respectively) and 51% of the
Jewish public considers the overthrowing of the Hamas regime as a condition
for ending the operation (but only 17% think that Israel should occupy
Gaza). Only 7% of the Jewish public considers a high number of IDF
casualties as a condition for ending the operation in Gaza and 3% see the
extensive harm to unarmed Palestinians as a reason to stop the fighting.

In light of these findings, it is not surprising that 80% expressed great
pride in the IDF and another 15% expressed pride, while less than 2% said
they were not proud of the IDF. The figures were very similar in regard to
pride in Israel and love for Israel.

How should those who disagree with the operation be treated? The findings
indicate that 57% agreed or strongly agreed that at wartime all
demonstrations of civilians against the military should be prohibited and
some 17% somewhat agree with that, so all in all, nearly three-quarters of
the Jewish public feels that demonstrations against military activity should
be prohibited. Just under half of the public (49%) agreed or strongly agreed
that these protesters should be considered traitors.

In total, 65% of the Jewish population is satisfied or very satisfied with
the way in which Prime Minister Netanyahu is handling the operation and an
additional 26% are somewhat satisfied with his performance, such that less
than 10% are dissatisfied.

34% of the Jewish population agrees or greatly agrees that Arab Israelis are
not loyal citizens and a similar percentage even agrees or greatly agrees
that they constitute a security threat. Only 12% and 15% completely consider
them loyal citizens and do not consider them to be a security threat.

Despite these findings, the preferred solution for a future peace agreement
with the Palestinians is still a two-state solution: 42% of the Jewish
public thinks that is what a future peace agreement should be; the next
solution in terms of support is the forced transfer of Palestinians to
Jordanian territory, which received 20% of the public’s support. Solutions
involving the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, or only of the West
Bank, with and without granting full rights (to Palestinians) receive less
than 10% support.

According to Dr. Feinstein, there are almost no differences between men and
women regarding the major variables. One difference is that fewer women
expressed absolute support (“greatly agree”) for military action. Similarly,
young people (18-25) have a lower tendency to express absolute support for
ground operations. According to the researcher, this may be because most of
the burden of combat and danger falls on this group.


For further details: Ilan Yavelberb — +972-52-866-6404