An opinion poll has revealed a sharp decline in public trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government, and the army.
A survey by the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv-based research institution, showed on Sunday that 76 percent of Israelis have lost trust in Netanyahu's government, which has been in power since December 2022.
It found that public trust in the government fell from 30 percent to 23 percent during Israel’s 12-day war on Iran, which broke out on June 13, while trust in Netanyahu himself dropped from 35 percent to 30 percent.
According to the poll, the war on Iran also affected citizens’ trust in the Israeli army, as it dropped from 83 percent to 77 percent.
Confidence in Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir also fell from 69 percent to 62 percent, and in the army spokesperson, from 63 percent to 56.5 percent.
Prolonging war to maintain power
The survey showed that 28 percent of Israelis don’t believe in the possibility of a “victory” in Gaza, and only 53 percent see the army’s main goals of ending Hamas’ rule and returning hostages as totally or mostly achieved.
Tel Aviv estimates that 50 Israeli captives remain in Gaza, including around 20 believed to be alive.
The Israeli opposition and hostages’ families have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war to appease his far-right coalition partners and maintain power.
The poll also showed that 42 percent of the Israeli citizens rule out the possibility of achieving Israel’s war goals partially or totally.
According to the survey, 61 percent of Israelis believe that the army’s current strategy in Gaza doesn’t facilitate the return of hostages from the enclave, while only 20.5 percent said that the current policy contributes to the “elimination of Hamas,” and 25.5 percent think the current strategy helps both to “eliminate Hamas” and return captives.
The poll also showed that Israeli society is divided over the failure to reach a ceasefire and hostage swap agreement in Gaza.
