A new public opinion survey says most Israelis want a harder security line toward regional threats, distrust ceasefire deals with Hamas and Hezbollah, and oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, a snapshot of a public being trained to think in terms of permanent siege and permanent control.
Security Control as Common Sense
The survey, conducted by the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Security in cooperation with Lazar Research and led by Dr. Menachem Lazar, was based on a representative sample of Israel’s adult population. It found that 56% of Israelis support military action against Hezbollah even if it could lead to direct confrontation with Iran. That is the language of state power speaking through polling: escalation framed as prudence, force framed as safety, and ordinary people left to live with the consequences.
A total of 79% of respondents said they do not trust ceasefires with Hamas and Hezbollah and believe such agreements do not ensure Israel’s long-term security. The survey also found that 66% of Israelis oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since the October 7 attack. The numbers point to a public opinion landscape where the state’s security logic has become the default setting, and where the idea of another state is treated less as a political solution than as another administrative border around the same machinery.
The Gaza Plan and the Border Regime
The survey also measured attitudes toward US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, described as a proposal for the enclave’s future governance framework. It found that 57% of Israelis support the plan, down from 69% last year. The drop matters less for the details of the plan than for what it says about the appetite for yet another externally managed framework for Gaza’s future, with governance discussed as a technical matter while people remain trapped under competing systems of control.
Respondents also expressed broad support for maintaining strategic security zones, preserving Israel’s operational freedom along its borders, and continuing operations against regional threats. In other words, the public is being asked to endorse a permanent security architecture: zones, freedom of action, operations, and the endless administrative vocabulary of domination.
The Pollsters’ Verdict
Dr. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Security, said the findings reflect a public that has become more cautious and security-focused since October 7. "The survey findings point to a more sober Israeli public, deeply influenced by the lessons of October 7 and the ongoing security reality in the region," said Diker. "Israelis are seeking real security rather than promises, and are showing increasing skepticism toward arrangements that are not based on Israel’s independent ability to defend itself."
"The central message emerging from the survey is that most of the Israeli public prefers deterrence, security control, and independent operational capability over reliance on external guarantees," added Diker. "These positions are evident both in relation to the Iranian and Hezbollah threats, in relation to ceasefires, and in relation to the issue of a Palestinian state."
The survey’s own framing is blunt: deterrence, security control, and independent operational capability are presented as the only serious options. The rest is paperwork, promises, and the familiar international theater of guarantees that never guarantee anything for the people who live under the system.