A new survey by the Israel Democracy Institute has found that the vast majority of Israeli Jews are not troubled by reports of widespread hunger and humanitarian suffering in Gaza, even as UN agencies warn of a looming famine in the besieged enclave.
According to the poll, conducted between 27–31 July, 79% of Jewish respondents said they were “not troubled” or “not troubled at all” by such reports. In contrast, 86% of Palestinian citizens of Israel — referred to in the survey as “Arab” respondents — said they were somewhat or very troubled by the situation.
Political affiliation proved to be a major factor. Among those identifying with the left, 70% expressed concern for Gaza’s hunger crisis, compared with 32% in the centre and just 6% on the right.
Famine Thresholds Reached
The findings come as the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s leading hunger monitoring body, warned last week that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is now unfolding in Gaza. According to its latest data, famine thresholds have been met for food consumption in most of the territory and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City.
At least 150 Palestinians — including children — have died from starvation since the war began in October 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry says. The ministry reports over 60,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict, most of them women and children. Its casualty figures, broken down by name, age, and gender, are widely accepted internationally, with The Lancet medical journal suggesting the true toll may be even higher.
Israel’s military, by contrast, claims 30,000 people have been killed, with 14,000 described as “combatants.” It has not provided a methodology for these numbers. The poll found that 70% of Jewish Israelis trust the army’s figures, while 63% of Palestinian citizens of Israel do not.
Public Mood and Global Standing
When asked whether “Israel’s actions are restricted by the fighting, but it is making substantial efforts to avoid unnecessary suffering to Palestinians in Gaza,” 78% of Jewish Israelis agreed.
However, on the issue of settler violence in the occupied West Bank, opinion was more critical: 44% of Israelis said security forces were too lenient toward violent settlers, compared with 23% who said their approach was appropriate and 22% who thought they were too harsh. A majority of Palestinian citizens of Israel (61%) also saw security forces as overly lenient.
The poll also revealed a sharp decline in optimism across four key indicators — national security, democratic rule, the economy, and national cohesion, with optimism now in the minority for each. National cohesion ranked lowest, with just 23% optimistic about its future.
Internationally, Israel’s reputation appears to be eroding, particularly in the United States. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently warned that Israel’s image was “in collapse” abroad, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for turning the country into “a leper state.”
Gallup polling from July shows only 32% of Americans support Israel’s war on Gaza — a 10-point drop since September 2024 — while 60% now disapprove. More than half (52%) view Netanyahu negatively, the worst rating he has received in Gallup’s records dating back to the 1990s.
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