Resentment up, trust down between Israeli Jews and Arabs during Gaza war, poll finds

New survey finds vast majority of Jews do not trust Arab Israelis and roughly half of Arab citizens of Israel do not trust Jews amid decline in trust and rise in perceived resentment between the two communities.

By World Israel News Staff

The vast majority of Israeli Jews do not trust Arab Israelis, a new poll has found, with key indicators of trust and social cohesion down significantly during the conflicts with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The poll was conducted by the Midgam polling institute and published Sunday morning by Israel’s national broadcaster, Kan.

According to the survey 72% of Israeli Jews said they do not trust Arab Israelis, with 43% of Arab Israelis responding similarly regarding Israeli Jews.

That not only marks a decline not only from the pre-October 7 levels of trust but also signals a continued fall over the past year.

In another poll by Midgam, released in January 2024 in the midst of the war both in Lebanon and Gaza, 63% of Israeli Jews said they did not trust Arab Israelis compared to 34% who said they did.

Roughly half of Israeli Jews in Sunday’s poll said they have sensed greater hostility from Arab Israelis recently, along with 40% of Arab Israelis who said they felt a similar increase in hostility from Jews.

Nearly half (45%) of Israeli Jews said they are unwilling to have any level of friendship with Arab Israelis, compared to 13% of Arabs who said they would not be willing to have Jewish friends.

Only 30% of Israeli Jews said they would be willing to study with Arabs or have their loved ones study with Arabs, compared to 60% of Arabs who said they would be willing to study with Jews.

Two-thirds of Israeli Jews said they would oppose the inclusion of Arab political parties in the Israeli government.