Israel should govern the Gaza Strip after the end of the current Israel-Hamas war, say 8.4% of Israeli Arabs, while 14.7% would prefer that Hamas govern it, according to a study by the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University published Wednesday.
Respondents were asked their opinions on what the day after the war should look like. When asked, “Who should assume responsibility for governing life in the Gaza Strip after the war?” 58.5% said that the Gaza Strip should be governed by Palestinians.
Regarding their preferences, 24.4% said that the Strip should be governed by local bodies from Gaza; 19.4% would like the Palestinian Authority to govern it; and 14.7% – the smallest percentage – believe that Hamas should be in charge.
Among the respondents, 34.4% would like to see an external, non-Palestinian body govern the Gaza Strip after the war. The preferred option for such a body, supported by 19.4% of the respondents, is an international force. The second-most preferred option – 8.4% – is for Israel to govern it, and 6.5% say that Arab states should govern.
What do Arab Israelis feel amid the ongoing war with Hamas?
Among those surveyed, 74% reported a low sense of personal safety during the war, with 41.2% saying that safety is “very low.” This is down from November 2023, when, in a poll using an identical methodology, 81.1% reported that their personal safety declined due to the war.
After eight months of war, this is a relatively minor decline, “and most Israeli Arabs continue to feel unsafe,” said the study.
More than half of the Arab public in Israel (51.6%) believe that the war has created a sense of shared destiny among them, the study found. This majority represents Arab Israelis of diverse religious backgrounds: 51.4% of Muslims, 62.5% of Druze, and 61.2% of Christians, according to the study.
According to 25.3% of the respondents, it is true “to a great extent” that the war created a sense of shared destiny; 48.4% believe the war has not engendered such a feeling, and 33.6% completely deny that such a feeling exists.
Violence and crime remain the most important issue for Israeli Arabs, the survey found. As in previous surveys, this issue was “at the top of the Arab Israeli sector’s agenda,” according to 60.6% of the respondents. The “Palestinian issue” was a far second, with 11.3% naming this as the most important issue; and regularization of construction in Arab towns came in third, with 10.1%.
The poll also found that a large majority (68.6%) of Arab Israelis support an Arab political party joining a coalition that would be established after the next election, with 40.2% in favor of an Arab party “joining any coalition, not only a center-left government.”
“The study shows that the current war between Israel and Hamas, which is the longest and hardest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948, has not altered the political compass of Israel’s Arab citizens,” said Dr. Arik Rudnitzky, director of the Konrad Adenauer Program.
“The findings provide clear proof for the distinction they make between fluctuations in the broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and political developments inside Israel, which they are able to influence.
“Israel’s Arab citizens worry about their brethren in Gaza, which is only natural and should be respected. However, it’s important to understand that sympathizing with Palestinians in Gaza is not the same as identifying with their political leadership,” he added.
Some 502 Arab Israelis, aged 18 and over, who constitute “a representative sample of Israel’s Arab adult population,” were surveyed for the study.