Families of detainees in Gaza continue to demonstrate in Tel Aviv to demand an exchange deal amid declining confidence in their leadership (Getty)

A recent opinion poll showed a decline in the Israeli public’s confidence in their leadership’s victory in the war on the Gaza Strip, and an erosion of their confidence in the army leaders as the war continues, which has entered its fifth month. However, their confidence in the army is still much higher than their confidence in the political leadership.

The poll, conducted by the independent Jewish People's Policy Institute and published yesterday, Tuesday, showed that the Israeli public would give priority - if Israel faced this option - to eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in exchange for restoring detainees in Gaza.

Low confidence in the army

However, the survey showed that Israelis' confidence in their army is eroding month after month. Last October, 35% of Israelis said that their trust in the army commanders was very high, and 40% said that their trust in them was somewhat high, compared to 17% who said that their trust was somewhat low, 6% who said that it was very low, and 2% who said They don't have a specific opinion.

Last January, 31% of Israelis said that their confidence in the army commanders was very high, and 45% said that their confidence was somewhat high, compared to 14% who said that their confidence was somewhat low, 8% very low, and 2% who said they had no opinion. specified for them.

As of this February, 25% of Israelis said that their confidence in the army commanders was very high, and 45% said that their confidence was somewhat high, compared to 16% who said that their confidence was somewhat low, 11% very low, and 2% who said that they had no specific opinion. .

The Institute suggested that confidence in the leaders of the Israeli army eroded further during the past month due to the prolongation of the war without achieving victory, and it rose slightly last October, shortly after the initial military strikes, and in November, when the Israeli army’s operations were underway. And a leg.

Declining confidence in victory

The poll also indicated that the Israeli public's confidence that Israel would win the war gradually declined from its level at the beginning of the war.

He stated that last October, 74 percent of Israelis expressed their confidence in Israel's victory in the war, but last November it decreased to 61 percent, and reached 54 percent this month.

The poll results indicate that the Israeli public would give priority to the overthrow of Hamas in exchange for the return of detainees, if Israel faced such a tough choice.

In a related context, the results indicated that 36% of Israelis want to hold legislative elections within 3 months, 30% want the elections on the scheduled date in 2026, 9% three months after the National Unity Party withdraws from the government, 8% next fall, and 7% % after a year, and 10% did not have a specific answer.

The institute indicated that the survey included a random sample of 600 people.

It is noteworthy that the war on the Gaza Strip showed cracks in the internal consensus in Israel about the war, and doubts about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s management of it and his handling of the detainees’ file, amid continuing demonstrations by the families of detainees to demand an exchange deal and a ceasefire.

Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia