Israeli polls show overwhelming support for Gaza campaign

[Kablooie]

Public support among Israeli Jews for the military campaign in Gaza has been overwhelming throughout its 24-day duration, with a recent opinion poll showing 95% of respondents believed the war was justified.

A survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University on three separate occasions between 14 and 23 July, and published this week, found that only 3-4% agreed with a statement that the Israel Defence Forces had used excessive firepower in the conflict.
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That consensus has been shaped in part by the media, which have largely focused on Israeli military casualties and rocket attacks, playing down Palestinian civilian deaths.

"The Israeli media is completely one-sided," said Orly Halpern, an Israeli journalist who writes the News Nosh, a daily review of the media for Americans For Peace Now. "You find references to Palestinian civilian casualties only deep in reports or on inside pages."
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There have been several cases in recent weeks of workers being sacked or suspended for comments posted on Facebook and Twitter. A supermarket employee was fired for expressing joy over the death of Israeli soldiers. A bank employee was sacked after writing grossly antisemitic remarks on Facebook.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/31/israeli-polls-support-gaza-campaign-media

[Fozzledick]

1. I think it has less to do with any supposed media bias

and more to do with the fact that most Israelis are sleeping in bomb shelters while under unrelenting attack from Gaza.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

3. Most are sleeping in bomb shelters?

What a load of fucking bullshit. Your arms must be getting tired from shoveling.

[oberliner]

4. The sleeping part is not accurate

But most Israelis have had to take to bomb shelters at various points over the past few weeks.

[mokawanis]

5. That's terrible

were any Israeli children killed in their sleep?

[lumpy]

29. Your fact is a lie.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Interesting. I've never been to Israel, but.....

>>>
That consensus has been shaped in part by the media, which have largely focused on Israeli military casualties and rocket attacks, playing down Palestinian civilian deaths>>>>

....don't Israelis have access to BBC and such?

[Scootaloo]

6. So did Americans in 2003

Most Americans preferred FOX, however.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. True, but WAY more than 3-4% of the US public opposed the Iraq aggression.

I'm assuming that the Israeli poll is more-or-less scientific and the results are more or less reflective of the political reality there .

Besides... BBC was mostly supporting ( "cooperating with", might be a better term) the Bush narrative and the Blair gov't was on board... even if the British people overwhelmingly were not.

Off topic... but not really: there's a House of Commons session on youtube... about three days old, I'd say...... wherein EVERYBODY ( including Tories) is denouncing the Israeli offensive.

Mind boggling considering the studied silence of the ENTIRE US legislature.

[oberliner]

8. British MP: ‘If I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? Probably yes’

Definitely a different vibe over there, that's for sure.

FYI: That British MP is David Ward.

[kayecy]

18. So, you are a US citizen in Gaza and.....

So, you are a US citizen in Gaza with Israeli shells landing near you......You see a rocket ready for launching with a dead Hamas 'operative' by it.......I can't believe that even a US citizen would not be tempted to fire the rocket in the general direction of Israel.

[oberliner]

19. No

Under no circumstance could I imagine myself shooting a rocket that might kill or injure innocent people.

[kayecy]

20. It is a pity that neither Israelis nor Palestinians.......

It is a pity that neither most Israelis nor many Palestinians think as you do........However, I respect your pacifist beliefs but does that mean you would not take up arms to defend your country against invaders?.....You would rather submit to indefinite occupation than fight for your freedom?

[oberliner]

21. I don't think I could kill another human being

Regardless of the circumstances involved.

[kayecy]

22. Me neither, in cold blood but.....

Me neither, in cold blood, but.....to fire a rocket in the general direction of my persecutors would be difficult to resist and then there is the case of what you personally would do if your child was about to have its throat slit by an intruder and you had a gun?

[oberliner]

23. Are we still talking about Gaza?

If I was in Gaza, I think I would be behaving the way most people in Gaza are. The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza are not shooting rockets at Israel. Most are not members of violent resistance groups and neither would I be.

Similarly, most Palestinians in the West Bank - which is where all the Israel settlements are located - do not shoot rockets or try to kill Israelis (in spite of the impact of the occupation on their lives). I would be among the non-violent majority there as well.

Your question at the end is kind of far afield from what we are discussing I think, but even in that horrific circumstance, I don't think I would be capable of killing that person.

[kayecy]

25. Let's hope you are never in that position...

Most of us would have no hesitation in shooting the intruder in those circumstances......Pacifism and non-violence are fine until it involves our nearest and dearest. We are both of us located a long way from Gaza's horrors so I guess the question is academic

[oberliner]

27. Thanks

I would disagree with your claim that "Most of us would have no hesitation in shooting the intruder in those circumstances." I would think most people would at least try to resolve the situation peacefully, but I surround myself with non-violent people so I might be a little naive about that sort of thing.

[lumpy]

30. You say the vast majority of Gaza Palestinians are not shooting rockets at Israel. Then why is

Israel killing those non aggressive Palestinians?

[oberliner]

31. Variety of reasons

Mainly that Israel does not allow the presence of civilians to prevent them from achieving their military objectives (destroying tunnels, rocket launchers, weapons caches, killing militants, etc).

Think of all the civilians who were killed in the US invasion of Iraq. Similar sort of thing.

[Dick Dastardly]

9. During most conflicts public support is usually highest in the begining stages as the public

rallies to face the crisis together. The US public support for the Iraq war in 2003 was hovering as high as around 80% but as we know it steadily dropped as time went on. Many of the rest of those who did not outright support the war at that time also did not outright oppose it either.While the US public opposition to the war was very low you are most certainly correct that it was never close to as low as 3-4 %.

That said, there is also a big difference. Unlike Israel, the US did not have thousands of rockets raining down on its population centers nor was most of the US population under constant threat from these rockets or any of the other threats like most of Israel's population faces. I guarantee if it was the same then the opposition would be just as low.

[Smarmie Doofus]

10. What is the total # of Israeli civilian casualties from the thousands of rockets raining down...

... since the commencement of the current hostilities?

True, the *psychological* impact of the rockets is what's relevant to this question of "why 3-4%?"; but I just want to get a clear idea if the actual menace posed.

[oberliner]

11. This is such a weird question

So if Israel didn't have bomb shelters/warning systems, etc and Israeli civilians were getting hit by rockets with more frequency then that would mean what?

[Smarmie Doofus]

12. "Weirdness" aside... it seems a fairly simple question to answer. No?

Possible answers: 0, 3451, 211, 43, 1652, 2 you get the idea.

Even, "I don't know." would be an answer... of sorts...to the question.

[oberliner]

13. I meant my question was weird, not yours

Which might explain why you chose to ignore it.

As for your question, I think last check there have been 6 deaths and 41 injuries on the Israeli side from the rockets.

[Smarmie Doofus]

15. So the answer is 6 Israeli citizens have been killed by the thousand of rockets....

... and 41 wounded.

Thanks.

[oberliner]

17. In the current month of July, yes

Over the course of the many years that Hamas has been launching rocket attacks on Israel, the number is higher - but just limiting ourselves to the current fighting in Gaza, that is the number.

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. A MUCH higher death/casualty rate would *probably* mean a very *low* rate ( i.e 3-4%) of ...

... opposition to the present Israeli assault.

A , for instance, ridiculously LOW Israeli casualty rate ( eg. 0) would *probably* have as a consequence that the opposition to the invasion would be much *higher* among the Israeli citizenry.

Don't you think?

[oberliner]

16. I think the opposite is true

Not sure if I am understanding your question correctly, but I would think more casualties would create more opposition. Why would more people support a war if it led to more casualties?

I would say that one of the reasons why such a high percentage of Israelis support the current action is because they feel like it will lead to the elimination (or reduction) of the threat they feel from Hamas without having to sacrifice many casualties in the process.

Sort of like why Iraq was relatively popular - not a whole lot of Americans in bodybags as was the case in the much less popular Vietnam conflict.

[azurnoir]

24. I think something is being missed-due to conscription nearly all Israeli Jews serve in IDF

there for to say excessive force is being used is condemning your Mother, Father, sister, brother, son, daughter and a good many Israeli's simply will not do that

[shanen]

26. So what percentage of the Germans people supported the invasion of Poland?

So let's have a bit of historical perspective? What percentage of the Germans supported the invasion of Poland? As I recall, the bit with Austria was quite popular, but I'm pretty sure they didn't take any polls about dealing with the terrorists in the ghetto near Warsaw.

Or how about demographic perspective? What percentage of Israelis work in military-related companies that are profiting from this "little" war?

Or let's try the philosophic perspective? What percentage of Palestinian civilians are willing to risk death for freedom? American civilians who would risk death for freedom? How about in 1776?

Actually, the first historical example that came to my mind in this conflict was the support of the French civilians for the resistance. There is a massive difference there, however. No apologies.

[Larkspur]

28. The Frank Luntz propaganda system at work in Israel

What does Israel call its Faux News network?