Over three-quarters of Jewish Israelis support continuing the war against Iran after four weeks, though a majority of both Jews and Arabs think planners of the US-Israeli operation underestimated Tehran’s staying power, according to initial survey results released by the Israel Democracy Institute on Friday.

A plurality of 35% of Jews, and about one-third of Arabs, thought Israeli society would “be able to bear the burden of continuing” the operation only until the end of March. But 28% of Jews, including a 35% plurality of right-wing voters, thought Israeli society could keep going “as long as it takes.”

Arab skepticism of the war remains strong, and a majority of Arab respondents said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motive in launching the war was “mainly personal-political” considerations as opposed to a majority of Jews who said his motive was “mainly security-related.”

The March 22-26 survey, which will be published in full next week, was IDI’s third about the war since the US and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28.

Of those surveys, the one previewed Friday was the first in which respondents were asked if they supported the war’s continuation rather than the war itself.

Israeli leaders have said that the US-Israeli campaign seeks to degrade Iran’s military capabilities, repel nuclear, ballistic and other threats posed by the Islamic Republic, and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime.

Iran has responded to the US-Israeli campaign with missile and drone strikes across the region, killing 15 people in Israel and four in the West Bank and causing destruction in Israeli cities. A rights group said Friday that nearly 1,500 civilians have been killed on the Iranian side in the war, while the regime has avoided offering figures regarding how many of its forces have been killed.

The 78% of Jewish respondents who supported continuing the operation in the current IDI poll included about half of those who identified as left-wing, 69.5% of those who identified as centrists and 87% of those who identified as right-wing, IDI said.

However, only 50% of the 78% who supported continuing the war “strongly support” that position — down from 74% who “strongly” supported the war in the first poll, conducted March 2-3, and 68% who “strongly” supported the war in the second poll, conducted March 9-11.

Firefighters look for victims and inspect damage at a residential building in southern Tehran, Iran, on March 27, 2026, amid the war with Israel and the US. (AFP)Another 11.5% of Jewish Israelis said in the current survey that they “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose continuing the war, compared with about 4% who opposed the war itself in the two previous polls.

And while about 3% of Jews answered “don’t know” when asked in the previous surveys if they support the war, 10.5% said in the current survey that they “don’t know” if the war should continue.

Among Arab respondents, 19% supported the war’s continuation and 71% opposed it, while others said they didn’t know.

Previous polls had also shown that only about a quarter of Arab respondents supported the war, compared with over 90% of Jews.

In the latest IDI poll, Arabs were also more likely than Jews to say that “mainly personal-political considerations” had pushed Netanyahu to launch the war.

Among Arab respondents, 55% said that was the case, compared with 30% of Arabs who said “mainly strategic security-related considerations” had pushed Netanyahu to go to war, and 15% who didn’t answer or said they don’t know.

Among Jews, 62% — including 29% identifying as left-wing, 79% as right-wing respondents and 38% as centrists — said Netanyahu’s motive was mainly security-related.

Another 27% of Jews — including 54.5% identifying as left-wing, 15% as right-wing and 45% as centrists — said Netanyahu’s motive was mainly “personal-political.”

Other Jewish respondents didn’t answer or said they don’t know.

Meanwhile, the US-Israeli assessment of Iran’s “resilience and fighting capability” so far was “one of the few issues on which there is agreement between Jewish and Arab respondents,” IDI said.

Among Jewish respondents, 27% said Iran has proven “much stronger than anticipated”; 29% said it has proven “somewhat stronger”; 20% said it has proven as strong as anticipated; 15% said it has proven much or somewhat weaker than anticipated; and nine percent said they don’t know.

Among Arab respondents, 32% said Iran has proven “much stronger than anticipated”; 19% said it has proven “somewhat stronger”; 17% said it has proven as strong as anticipated; 12% said it has proven much or somewhat weaker than anticipated; and 20% said they don’t know.

The poll was conducted online and by telephone, in Hebrew and Arabic, among a representative sample of 756 Jewish and Arab adults, with a margin of error of 3.56% and a 95% confidence level, IDI said.

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IDI Israel Democracy Institute

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