74% of Jewish respondents favored the invasion of Rafah, while 64.5% of Arab Israelis, representing 20% of the population in Israel, opposed it.
Almost 75% of Jews in Israel say they support a military invasion of Rafah, the southernmost area of the Gaza Strip with 1.4 million displaced people, while two-thirds of Arab Israelis believe it would be better not to do so, according to a survey published this Sunday by the Israeli Democracy Institute.
A total of 750 respondents were asked whether Israel should “refrain from expanding its military operations in Rafah to avoid endangering relations with Egypt and the ongoing agreement for the release of hostages,” or if, on the contrary, it should initiate a ground operation “to pressure Hamas to accept a better deal” for the captives.
74% of Jewish respondents favored the invasion of Rafah, while 64.5% of Arab Israelis, representing 20% of the population in Israel, opposed it and considered it better to refrain from doing so.
According to the political ideology of the respondents, almost 45% of left-leaning Jews believe it would be better not to attack Rafah by land, according to the survey, while among right-leaning Jews, this percentage is less than 5%.
After initiating a ground military operation in Gaza in late October, Israel has been threatening to invade Rafah, the southern tip of Gaza bordering Egypt, where it claims there are still four battalions of Hamas militants. However, Rafah is home to over a million displaced Gazans with no other place to flee.
Regarding the question of whether Israel is in a good position internationally, again, 63% of Arab Israelis believe it is not; a negative view shared by a significant 44% of Jews.
Among Jewish believers, 22% still consider Israel’s foreign position “good or very good,” despite recent disagreements with the U.S. in ceasefire negotiations or regarding the blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza.
