Israeli public divided on preemptive Iran strike, trust in government remains low, new survey finds

The Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University released its National Security Survey for July, based on 936 respondents, including 803 who answered in Hebrew and 133 in Arabic, with a maximum sampling error of 3.17%

The survey found that the majority of Israel's population maintains trust in Israel's security institutions, although not so much in its own political leadership. Overall, 74% of respondents maintain trust in Mossad, 73% trust the IDF, 61% trust Shin Bet, and 59% trust IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. However, 73% of respondents maintain little to no trust in the Government of Israel and its political leadership. Only 25% of respondents had trust in the Government of Israel, and only 31% trust its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It should be noted that there is a stark contrast between the responses from the Jewish public compared to the Arab public. The IDF and Mossad were trusted by 83% of Jewish respondents but only 34% and 35% of Arab respondents, respectively. Trust in the government stood at 31% among Jews compared with 5% among Arabs, and trust in Netanyahu stood at 37% among Jews compared with 6% among Arabs.

On Israel's national security situation, 37% rated it as bad or very bad, 36% as moderate, and 26% as good or very good, an improvement from June, when 42% rated it bad or very bad, and only 20% rated it good or very good. Coalition voters were far more optimistic, with 48% rating the situation as good or very good compared with 11% of opposition voters.

Regarding a potential preemptive strike on Iran, 42% of respondents supported such action, compared with 46% opposed, a result largely unchanged from January but showing a slight shift toward opposition. Support was far higher among coalition voters (64%) than opposition voters (31%).

On the security situation in northern Israel, 66% said the current situation does not provide security for residents, an improvement from 81% in June, while 30% said it does, up from 15%. In the Northern District itself, 47% said the situation enables security, the highest share among all regions.

Asked about President Trump's commitment to Israel's security, 58% said he supports Israel only when it serves his own interests, 23% called him unpredictable, and only 14% viewed him as strongly committed to Israel's security. The findings were largely unchanged from June.

Among the Jewish public, 63% opposed a law freezing arrest and enforcement proceedings against yeshiva students who failed to report for military service, compared with 32% in support. Opposition was highest among secular respondents at 84%, while a majority of religious and ultra-Orthodox respondents supported the law, at 56% and 90% respectively.

On concerns about election-period disinformation, 79% of the Jewish public expressed concern about a domestic disinformation campaign, including 46% who said they were very concerned. Concern was higher among opposition voters (92%) than coalition voters (72%).