War and Peace Index: Vast Majority of Israelis Support Continued Gaza Blockade

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Posted on: June 25, 2010

In April, The War and Peace Index, a joint venture of The Evens Mediation and Conflict Resolution Center at Tel Aviv University and The Israel Democracy Institute, looked at growing tensions between Israel and many countries of the world, some of them hostile for years and some more or less friendly. Among the findings:

A sweeping majority of the Jewish public – 78% – sided with the first claim, voiced repeatedly in the past by decisionmakers, that the blockade of Gaza should be continued so as to pressure Hamas and prevent attacks.
Only a minority – 17% 0 thought the price in terms of international public opinion was too high (note that the survey was done before Prime Minister Netanyahu’s announcement on canceling the limitations Israel had imposed in the past on the entry of
goods into Gaza).
In the Arab public the picture is indeed the reverse: only a minority - 23% – agreed with the first, security-oriented claim, while the overwhelming majority – 71% – agreed that the price of the blockade for Israel’s international image is too steep.