Poll shows widespread hostility towards Hezbollah, support for Israel deal among Syrians, Lebanese

The Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah has little support among either Syrians or Lebanese, new poll shows, while pluralities in both countries support peace with Israel.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Public attitudes in Syria and Lebanon are shifting against Hezbollah while support for eventual peace or closer ties with Israel is rising, according to two new surveys released by the Council for a Secure America.

The surveys, conducted by YouGov in three waves since October 2025, found that 68% of Syrians and 59% of Lebanese respondents viewed Hezbollah’s role in their countries negatively.

Majorities or pluralities in both countries also said they believed peace with Israel was possible, while substantial shares expressed support for security arrangements, normalization or other forms of engagement with the Jewish state.

In Syria, 68% of respondents described Hezbollah’s involvement in the country as negative, including 52% who viewed it as “very negative.” Only 6% expressed a positive view of the Iranian-backed group, which fought alongside the Assad government during the Syrian civil war.

The survey found that 57% of Syrians believed peace with Israel was likely in the future, compared with 16% who considered it unlikely.

A 53% majority said they would support the Syrian government signing a security arrangement with Israel intended to promote Syria’s security and prosperity, while 11% were opposed.

If the Palestinian conflict were resolved on a long-term basis, 46% said they would support normalizing diplomatic or economic relations with Israel. Nineteen percent said they would oppose such a move.

Support for engagement with Israel declined somewhat between January and June. Backing for a security arrangement fell from 64% to 53%, while positive views of the United States’ role in Syria declined from 65% to 51%.

The decline was strongest among Syrians younger than 45. Positive views of the American role among that group fell from 65% in January to 44% in June, compared with a smaller decline from 66% to 58% among respondents aged 45 and older.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa retained strong approval ratings roughly 18 months after the fall of the Assad government. Sixty-four percent rated his performance positively, while 14% viewed it negatively.

“Roughly eighteen months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syrians have rendered a clear verdict on the militia that helped keep that regime in power,” said Jennifer Sutton, executive director of the Council for a Secure America.

“More than two-thirds now call Hezbollah’s involvement in their country harmful, a majority would back a formal security arrangement with Israel, and most expect peace between the two nations in the years ahead,” she said. “A Syrian public saying such things on the record would have been unthinkable a few years ago.”

Sutton acknowledged that support for Israel and the United States had softened since the beginning of the year.

“There has been some cooling since January, and it is real,” she said. “But openness to Israel and to an American role remains the majority position in Syria today. The trajectory of the past year is the story that matters.”

The Lebanese survey also found declining opposition to normalization with Israel.

Among Lebanese respondents, 32% said they would support diplomatic or economic normalization with Israel following a long-term resolution of the Palestinian issue, while 19% were opposed.

Opposition had fallen from 31% in January, marking the first time in the group’s polling that support for normalization exceeded opposition.

The shift was recorded among both Muslims and Christians.

Among Muslim respondents, opposition to normalization fell from 31% in January to 23% in June, while support rose from 19% to 28%. Christian support increased from 37% to 43%.

Twenty-eight percent of Lebanese respondents said the country should repeal laws criminalizing dealings with Israel, while 32% said the laws should remain. Forty percent did not answer the question.

A 40% plurality said normalization would benefit Lebanon’s economy, compared with 22% who believed it would cause harm.

The poll also found broad criticism of Hezbollah’s armed presence. Fifty-nine percent said the group’s military forces had a negative effect on Lebanese security, while 11% viewed their role positively.

Fifty-eight percent supported President Joseph Aoun’s efforts to strengthen the Lebanese Army and negotiate Hezbollah’s disarmament so that all armed forces would operate under government control.

A 41% plurality believed peace between Israel and Lebanon was likely eventually, while 27% considered it unlikely.

“For years the conventional wisdom held that Lebanese society was immovably opposed to any relationship with Israel,” Sutton said. “This data demolishes that assumption.”

“Opposition to normalization has been cut nearly in half since January, a clear plurality now wants the laws criminalizing contact with Israel off the books, and a majority sees Hezbollah’s arsenal as a threat to Lebanon’s own security,” she added. “That is not a marginal shift; it is a public laying the groundwork for a different future.”

Aoun received a positive rating from 46% of Lebanese respondents in June, down from a peak of 57% in January. As in Syria, the decline was concentrated among younger respondents.

“What we are watching is the logic of the Abraham Accords reaching the eastern Mediterranean,” Sutton said.

“In Damascus and in Beirut alike, citizens are concluding that integration, stability, and prosperity serve them better than perpetual confrontation — and that the militias standing in the way are a cost they no longer wish to bear,” she said. “The appetite for a different regional order is there, in two countries at once.”

The Syrian survey was conducted online in Arabic among 252 adults between May 28 and June 5, following earlier waves of 257 respondents in October and 260 in January.

The Lebanese survey included 260 adults questioned between May 26 and June 1, following samples of 253 respondents in October and 252 in January.

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