Most Israeli Jews untroubled by reports of Gaza famine, survey finds
Most Israeli Jews trust the IDF to avoid unnecessary Palestinian suffering, and many are reconsidering travel destinations due to antisemitism.
Shahar Burla
Palestinians children wait at a food distribution point in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip, on May 22, 2025 (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A new Israeli public opinion survey has revealed a sharp divide between Jewish and Arab citizens regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the credibility of the IDF’s reports, settler violence in the West Bank, and concerns over rising antisemitism abroad.
Conducted by the Viterbi Family Centre for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, the survey followed increasing reports and images pointing to a severe humanitarian disaster in Gaza, including widespread famine.
When asked, “To what extent are you personally troubled or not troubled by the reports of famine and suffering among the Palestinian population in Gaza?”, 79% of Israeli Jews responded that they were “not so troubled” or “not troubled at all.” In contrast, 86% of Arab Israelis said they were either “very troubled” or “somewhat troubled” by the situation.
These findings align with coverage in the Israeli mainstream media, which for months largely denied or downplayed the scale of hunger in Gaza. However, according to Ruth Margalit in The New Yorker, a shift may be underway. “Even for (Israeli) politicians and journalists who are sympathetic to Netanyahu, it has become permissible to acknowledge that [the hunger crisis] is real,” she wrote. Whether this softening in tone will influence public opinion remains to be seen.
The survey found no significant gender differences among Jewish respondents, but among Arab respondents, women were more concerned than men (92% vs 80%).
source: Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, July 27–31, 2025.
A similar divide was found in perceptions of Israel’s military conduct. 78% of Jewish respondents agreed with the statement that “Israel’s actions are restricted by the fighting, but it is making substantial efforts to avoid causing unnecessary suffering to Palestinians in Gaza.” However, only 22.5% of Arab respondents shared that view.
source: Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, July 27–31, 2025.
Among Jewish political camps, the divide was even more pronounced. While most on the Left believed Israel could have done far more to prevent Palestinian suffering, those in the Centre and Right largely believed Israel had made reasonable efforts under the circumstances.
Trust in IDF reports splits by politics and religion
Regarding the credibility of the IDF’s reporting on Palestinian civilian casualties, 70% of Jews said they trust the figures, compared to just 37% of Arabs. On the Jewish political spectrum, trust was lowest on the Left (48.5%) and highest in the Centre (70%) and Right (74%).
Religious observance also played a role: trust in the IDF’s figures was highest among national religious Jews (86%), followed by traditional religious (80%), traditional non-religious (76%), and secular Jews (63%). Haredi Jews showed the lowest trust in IDF casualty reports (55%).
44% said security forces are too lenient on violent settlers
The poll also examined public attitudes towards settler violence in the West Bank, particularly against Palestinians and Israeli security forces. 44% of all respondents said the security forces are too lenient in punishing violent settlers—41% of Jews and 60.5% of Arabs shared this view.
Meanwhile, 23% overall said authorities are handling the issue appropriately, while 22% said the settlers are treated too harshly. Among ultra-Orthodox Jews, 67% believed that settlers are treated too harshly, and 45% of national religious Jews agreed.
Responses were similar when asked about settler violence directed at Palestinians: 42% said settlers are treated too leniently, 25% said too harshly, and another 25% felt the treatment was appropriate.
Rising antisemitism influencing travel plans
The survey also explored whether the global rise in antisemitism is affecting Israelis’ travel plans. More than half of all respondents reported an impact, with 38% adjusting their travel destinations and another 18% choosing not to travel abroad at all due to safety concerns.
Among Jews, 42% said antisemitism influenced their choice of destination, and 17% said they would not travel abroad. Among Arabs, 25% said they would refrain from travelling, while 17.5% altered their travel destination.
source: Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, July 27–31, 2025.
When excluding those who had no plans to travel, the impact becomes more pronounced. 76% of Jewish travellers reported being affected—54.5% altered their destination and 21.5% decided not to travel. For Arab travellers, 65% reported an impact, with 26.5% adjusting their destination and 38.5% choosing not to travel at all.
The survey results coincided with reports that three Greek pro-Palestinian groups are planning a coordinated “Day of Action” against Israeli tourists this Sunday. The groups – March to Gaza Greece, the Palestinian Community in Greece, and BDS Greece – have vowed that the country “will not become a refuge for genocidal people.” The campaign follows several recent anti-Israel incidents in Greece, a popular destination for Israeli travellers. The groups have circulated near-identical Instagram posts calling for protests at tourist locations and Greek islands.
The survey was conducted from 27–31 July 2025 via online and telephone interviews to ensure inclusion of underrepresented demographics. It included 753 Israeli adults: 601 Hebrew-speaking and 152 Arabic-speaking respondents, making it nationally representative. The maximum sampling error was ±3.57% at a 95% confidence level.
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About the author
Dr Shahar Burla is a Sydney-based researcher, lecturer and Contributing Editor of TJI. Shahar holds a Master’s degree in political science from Hebrew University and a PhD in political science from Bar-Ilan University. He is the author of Political Imagination in the Diaspora: The Construction of a Pro-Israeli Narrative (2013) and co-editor of Australia and Israel: A Diasporic, Cultural and Political Relationship (2015).
Comments2
Steve Holstein8 August at 05:00 am
I have real concerns about the methodology in the survey questions. A question framed around “The extent to which you are personally troubled or not by reports of famine and suffering attempts to measure a single construct (“being troubled”) that is, dependent on at least two separate, distinct constructs; 1. Belief in the Reports: Do I accept the factual truth of reports of famine? and; 2.Emotional Response: How do I feel, assuming it is factual?
“Not troubled” could mean, “I don’t believe there is a famine, so I’m not troubled.”, “I believe but don’t care”, etc. This ambiguity makes it unclear whether the research objective is to understand beliefs about facts and responsibility or merely to capture a broad emotional response”. More appropriate questions could have been framed by clearly separating beliefs from concerns.
Unfortunately, the emotive headlines by Haaretz, repeated by TJI, have jumped to one particular interpretation. The IDI, by contrast had the headline, Large Majority of Jewish Israelis believe that Israel is Making Substantial Efforts to Avoid Palestinian Suffering; quite a different takeout.
The survey might reveal indifference to Palestinian suffering—but also might reflect deep mistrust of the media, with consequences for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Ian Light8 August at 03:13 am
The Very Humane in Israel are still strong .
Many in The Israeli Jewish population do not believe there is a famine and believe the pictures of desperation are staged by Hamas controlled Journalists who want the ratings and jobs and that many more areas have better food and that Hamas and the Armed Gangs are well fed .
Worse they do not share it with the disabled and destitute.