Most Israelis unhappy with current progress in Gaza war, new poll shows

The vast majority of Israelis are unhappy with the results achieved so far in the war against Hamas and its allies, according to a new Maariv poll, conducted by Dr. Menachem Lazar, in collaboration with Panel4All.

Less than a third of Israelis said they are satisfied with the results achieved so far in the war, which crossed its six-month mark on Sunday, half a year after Hamas's attack on October 7. More than half (62%) of respondents said that they are dissatisfied with the results achieved so far, and 9% said they don’t know. 

Respondents who support the current government are more likely to say that they are satisfied with the results so far: this was the response given by 61% of government supporters, compared to just 33% who said they don’t know, and a mere 6% who said they were dissatisfied. 

In contrast, only 17% of those who oppose the government responded that they were satisfied with the outcome of the war, compared to a large majority of 79% who said they were dissatisfied, and only 4% who said they didn’t know. 

The poll was conducted in April among 528 respondents, making up a representative sample of the adult population in the State of Israel aged 18 and over, Jews and Arabs. Its margin of error was estimated at 4.4%. 

Poll comes at war's six-month mark

Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, fought alongside near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah along Israel's northern border and attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen, entered its sixth month on Sunday. 

The war began half a year ago on October 7, 2023, when Hamas operatives invaded southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 people hostage, 134 of whom are still held captive. 

Leon Kraiem contributed to this report.