An Israeli soldier waits at the bus station, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 15, 2024. (Credit: Florion Goga/Reuters)
A poll published Sunday by Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and reported in part by the Middle East Eye (MEE) media outlet found that 47 percent of Jewish Israelis believe their country should disregard international law and moral values during its war on Gaza.
The poll, reported by MEE, also showed that 65 percent of Israelis believe that prison officials recently accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee should not face criminal prosecution, but only disciplinary sanctions, referring to an incident that took place in the makeshift Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert. Several soldiers are currently under investigation and some have been placed under house arrest. The U.N. special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, had denounced a "particularly horrific" case of alleged sexual abuse of a Palestinian prisoner by Israeli soldiers, calling for those responsible to be brought to justice. On the other hand, 21 percent of those surveyed believe that the superiors of these soldiers should face criminal prosecution if the order was given by their superiors. Finally, 14 percent of those surveyed did not comment on the issue.
The U.N. has reported numerous cases of alleged torture of Palestinian detainees since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli organization B'Tselem has also denounced a systematic policy of ill-treatment and torture against Palestinian detainees since the start of the war in Gaza.
According to the survey published by the INSS, between Oct. 7 and 29, 2023, 57 percent of Jewish Israelis believed that Israel should disregard international law in the conduct of the war. However, by Aug. 11, 2024, this proportion had suffered a significant drop of 10 points, to 47 percent. On the contrary, while only 32 percent of people believed that it should be respected in the first month of the war, this figure increased by 10.5 points to reach 42.5 percent on Aug. 11, 2024. Despite these developments, 10.5 percent of respondents still have no opinion on the subject, a percentage that is relatively stable compared to the period considered in October 2023.
The survey data further shows a significant decline in Israelis’ trust in their institutions. Between Oct. 29, 2023 and August 11, 2024, trust in the military fell by 11.5 points, from 89.5 to 78 percent. The police suffered an even sharper drop, by 35 points, with trust falling from 62 to 27 percent. For the government, trust, which had already fallen very low after the Hamas attack, collapsed by 6 points, from 26 to 20 percent.
Since Oct. 7, clashes have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gazan Health Ministry. More than 92,000 others have been injured, while about 10,000 people are missing, likely buried under rubble. The Oct. 7 Hamas attack claimed the lives of about 1,200 Israelis and led to the capture of more than 250, including about 100 who are still being held in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli forces have killed at least 632 Palestinians since the conflict began.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.