‘A deluxe war’: Why Israeli support for the battle with Iran has stayed so high |
Last week, the psychoanalyst Yoram Yovell made waves when he went on TV and, in the middle of a conversation about the Iran war, accused part of the country of being “a bunch of spoiled prima donnas.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said on Channel 12. “Gentlemen, ladies, the people of Israel, you need to kiss the Air Force’s feet. You need to wake up, to say thank you. There’s never been a war like this. There’s never been an army like this.”
He went on, “The Air Force, the pilots, and the Home Front Command are giving you a deluxe war. Say thank you, for God’s sake!”
If you’re wondering why, going on three weeks into the war with Iran, the vast majority of Israelis still support it, there’s your answer.
The past 18 days have not been easy here in Israel. As of early Wednesday morning, 14 people have been killed in Israel from Iranian missile attacks. The north is under a constant barrage of rockets and drones from Hezbollah, with IDF soldiers pushing deeper into Lebanon. Routinely, Israel’s hospitals record more than 100 people admitted per day due to injuries from the fighting — whether from missile attacks themselves or the constant rush to shelter every time a siren sounds.
Speaking of bomb sirens: Quiet nights in central Israel, where the population is concentrated, feel like an increasingly distant memory, especially for people who need to leave their apartment every time the alarm blares. During the writing of this analysis alone, two sirens went off in Tel Aviv. It was at complaints about the sirens that Yovell aimed his rebuke.
In most of the country, parents have had almost three trying weeks at home with their kids as workplaces stay open but schools remain shuttered, with the two-week Passover break around the corner.
And this is all after, not nine months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the last Iran war in June was a “historic victory” that would “abide for generations.”
Considering all of that, you could be forgiven for thinking Israelis would no longer support this war — except they do, in spades.
High levels of resilience to fight an ‘existential danger’
A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute taken on the war’s third and fourth day found that 82 percent of Israelis overall, including 93% of Jewish Israelis, support the US-Israeli operation against Iran. In the IDI’s second survey, taken a week or so later, the numbers were 81% and 92.5%, respectively. In both polls, about a quarter of Arab Israelis conveyed support.
Surveys by the Institute for National Security Studies likewise show overall support holding........