Most Israelis back Netanyahu’s ‘day after’ plan for Gaza – poll
A majority of Israelis support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “day after” plan for the Gaza Strip, and want to see Saudi and Emirati involvement in managing Gaza post-war, according to a new survey by the nonprofit Image of Victory organization.
The survey, conducted among both Jewish and Arab Israelis in this month focused on several topics related to the ongoing Hamas-Israel war.
However, the results also showed concerns about Israel managing to achieve all the objectives of the plan, as well as the definition of “absolute victory” that Netanyahu said he wanted to achieve in Gaza.
Supporting the prime minister’s “day after” plan and Saudi, and UAE involvement
Netanyahu’s “day after” plan, presented earlier this year, consisted of a few objectives. These included:
• Continued Israeli security control over Gaza,
• Establishing a security barrier in the South to stop any smuggling from Egypt,
• Transferring control of Gaza to Palestinian civilians and technocrats, and
• Rehabilitation of Gaza by a foreign power agreed upon by Jerusalem.
Overall, 62% of Israelis support Netanyahu’s plan, with just 16% having any actual opposition.
Support for the plan was strongest among older Israelis, with 43.5% of those aged 65 and up fully backing it, and a further 30.4% partially backing it.
In terms of who would help manage Gaza, most Israelis (58%) supported having Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates take responsibility for Gaza’s civilians. This point saw widespread bipartisan support, with most right-wing and leftwing voters backing the idea.
This included 55% of voters from Likud and Yisrael Beytenu; 50% from Shas, United Torah Judaism, Labor, and Meretz; 61% from National Unity; and 67% of Yesh Atid voters.
Other countries and entities that were proposed to help with the “day after” included the US, Egypt, Jordan, Russia, the European Union, the Palestinian Authority, or none of the above. Of these, the United States saw the strongest support among respondents, especially among Israelis in the 65 and over and the 15-24 age brackets (52.2% and 52.5% respectively). Saudi Arabia and the UAE saw the next highest levels of support.
BUT WHILE there is considerable agreement in backing Netanyahu’s plan, the problem is whether that plan is seen as being possible.
Less than a quarter (23%) of respondents thought that Netanyahu’s plan could be fully realized.
Of the plan’s different objectives, the security goals were seen as the most feasible, according to a plurality (41%) of respondents. However, the other objectives were seen as far less likely to be achievable.
Disagreement over “absolute victory” in Gaza
There was significantly less agreement regarding the goal of “absolute victory” in Gaza, as espoused by Netanyahu when the war started.
A large number of Israelis recognize that it has a point, serving the objective of the conflict. But this is not the case across the board, especially among voters in older demographics. In fact, over a third (38%) of Israelis think that “absolute victory” may not even be possible, given Israel’s current capabilities.
Interestingly, older demographics (aged 55 and up) were more pessimistic in this regard, while the strongest showing of support came from Israelis in the 25-34 age bracket. But even then, only about a quarter (26.5%) of those respondents showed strong confidence.
There is also disagreement over how “absolute victory” would even be achieved at all. A quarter of respondents (25%)
focused on the social aspects, advocating for the de-radicalization of Gaza’s educational, health, religious, and welfare institutions. Slightly more respondents (26%) supported having Israelis resettle in Gaza. Still others support having Gaza be rehabilitated by another country.
Two things all respondents agreed on, though, was the need to dismantle Hamas and bring all the hostages back home.
“The survey findings show that there is broad support in Israel for the need for absolute victory in the war,” Image of Victory founders Danel Ben Namer and Tal Louria said in a statement.
“However, the questions
regarding the ability to achieve it must raise a red flag among Israeli decision-makers,” they said. “They must understand that a military decision alone is not enough. Establishing a new civilian administration to replace Hamas is no less important than achieving Israel’s military objectives in the war.
“The consensus among rightand left-wing voters regarding the need for the involvement of countries [such as] Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in managing and rehabilitating the Gaza Strip,” they said, “should guide the Israeli government in the direction of achieving civilian objectives on the way to achieving an absolute victory.”