Arab Israelis say retaliatory attack on Iran 'too weak'

New polling data reveals an equal divide among Israel’s Jewish population over the intensity of last month’s retaliatory airstrikes on Iran, while most Arab respondents consider the bombardment too weak.

The Israeli Democracy Institute found that on the Left and in the Center, the largest proportion of respondents think that the response was appropriately strong (46% and 48%, respectively), while a large minority hold that the response was too weak (Left, 28%; Center, 32%).

On the Right, however, the largest share of respondents (51%) think the response was too weak, and 41% that it was appropriately strong.

Responses were analyzed by vote in the 2022 Knesset elections. The IDI said: “We found a surprising degree of agreement, for which we have no satisfactory explanation, between the Zionist right-wing parties—the Likud and Religious Zionism, the majority of whose voters think that Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack was too weak (50.5% and 56%, respectively).”

Of the Arab parties, Ra’am and Balad, voters are even more of the opinion that Israel’s response was too weak (54% and 67%, respectively), the IDI found.

In Israel, its Arab population is made up of Druze, Muslims, Christians and Baha'i.

In terms of the national mood while Israel is fighting Iran’s militias from across the region, the IDI found things have improved.

“Presumably due to Israel’s military successes in Lebanon, and perhaps due to the repulsion of the Iranian missile strike with relatively minor damage, we found a substantial increase in optimism among the Israeli public this month about the future of national security, and a slight increase in optimism about the future of democratic rule,” the center said.

Israel and Iran’s war of attrition escalated this year following Iran’s inaugural attack on Israel in April. It followed the alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus which killed at least two senior Quds Force generals and other IRGC figures.

A second Iranian attack followed on October 1 in retaliation for the targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. Israel retaliated on October 26, targeting key strategic sites in Iran.

An alleged Israeli attack on July 31 killed the political head of Iran-backed Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. Another air strike in September killed the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, triggering almost 200 ballistic missiles to be fired at the Jewish state last month. Israel retaliated with an hours-long aerial attack on critical infrastructure and military sites.