Survey finds many Iranians support Netanyahu and oppose Islamic Republic

According to the findings, more than half of those surveyed expressed a favorable opinion of Netanyahu.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A new survey by the Netherlands-based research institute GAMAAN found that more than half of respondents in Iran view Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu favorably, while many also expressed support for U.S. and Israeli military action against the Islamic Republic, reflecting widespread opposition to the country’s ruling regime rather than broad backing for foreign leaders.

The survey, titled “Iranians’ Attitudes Toward the 2026 Protests and War,” was conducted from June 20 to June 27, 2026, using a weighted sample of 31,450 literate Iranian respondents. The project was carried out in collaboration with Psiphon, Lantern and MahsaNet and reports an approximate 95% credibility level with a conservative credibility interval of plus or minus three percentage points.

According to the findings, more than half of those surveyed expressed a favorable opinion of Netanyahu.

About 40% said they viewed U.S. and Israeli military operations against the Islamic Republic as a form of “humanitarian intervention” intended to help Iranians remove the regime.

At the same time, the survey found the public remained divided over the military campaign. Forty-eight percent rejected the characterization of the strikes as humanitarian intervention, while 42% described them as “military aggression against Iran.”

GAMAAN said support for Netanyahu and the military campaign appears to stem largely from dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic rather than endorsement of foreign political leaders.

The survey also pointed to exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi as an influential factor, noting his public meetings with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on the subject of regime change.

His favorable ratings, the institute said, suggest some Iranians are willing to align with Western and Israeli leaders if doing so advances efforts to remove the current government.

The survey found that 60% of respondents said they were satisfied that the Islamic Republic had been weakened during the war, while 52% said they were not saddened by the assassination of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei in February.

Twenty-four percent said they had no opinion on Khamenei’s death, and another 24% said they were saddened.

Only 13% of respondents said they wanted Iran to remain under the Islamic Republic.

Twenty-eight percent preferred a republican system, including 17% favoring a non-federal republic and 11% a federal republic. Another 34% favored a monarchy, with 25% supporting a non-federal monarchy and 9% a federal monarchy.

Previous GAMAAN surveys found that between 80% and 92% of Iranians opposed the regime.