Overwhelming Majority of Jews (93%); Minority of Arabs (26%) Support Operation in Iran (total sample: 82%)

Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

Methodology

The survey was conducted by the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, on March 2-3, 2026. The survey was based on a representative sample of the entire population in Israel aged 18 and over, and included 500 respondents in Hebrew and 99 respondents in Arabic.

Support for Operation “Roaring Lion”

A large majority of the Jewish public (93%) support Operation “Roaring Lion,” compared to a small minority (26%) in the Arab public who support it (total sample: 82%).

A breakdown by political orientation (Jews) shows a majority of supporters in all three, although this majority is smaller in the Left than in the Center and the Right (Left 76%, Center 93%, Right 97%).

Do you support or oppose “Operation Roaring Lion” – the joint military attack of the US and Israel on Iran (%)

Netanyahu and the Management of the Operation

About three quarters (74%) of the Jewish public quite or very much trust Netanyahu to manage the operation well. Among Arabs only 16% trust him to do so (total sample: 64%).

A breakdown by political orientation (Jews) shows a minority on the Left (40%) trust Netanyahu’s management ability in the context of the operation, while there is a majority in the Center (62%) and Right (85%).

Quite or very much trust Prime Minister Netanyahu to manage the operation properly (%, Jews)

Sense of Protection from Iranian Attacks

A majority of the Jewish public (74%) feel fairly or very protected from Iranian attacks, compared to a small minority (15%) among Arabs who feel this way (total sample: 64%).

A breakdown by gender in this question reveals significant differences. Despite large differences between Jewish and Arab women in their sense of protection (a majority of Jewish women feel protected compared to a very small minority of Arab women), women in both publics feel less protected than men.

Feel protected from attacks by Iran – the gender effect (%)

We broke down the responses to this question according to whether respondents do or do not have a protected space[1] – a safe room (mamad) or a shelter (miklat) – in their surroundings. The findings are unequivocal: as expected, those who have a prsotected space feel much more protected.

Feel protected from attacks by Iran (%, total Israeli public)

President Trump and Israel’s Security

Among Jews there has now been a slight increase in the proportion who believe that Israel’s security is a main consideration of President Trump, compared to October 2025. By contrast, among Arabs there has been a drop in the proportion who think so between the measurement at the end of 2025 and the current measurement. This is presumably related to the different levels of support or opposition in the two publics for the current joint operation against Iran.

Believe that Israel’s security is a main consideration for President Trump (%)

We also found large differences on this question between the political orientations within the Jewish public. In the Left, only a minority (34.5%) believe that Israel’s security is a central consideration for President Trump, while in the Center and Right there is a majority who think so (62%, 70% respectively).

How Long Should the Operation Continue?

We presented respondents with two possible responses: the operation should continue until its military objectives are achieved (eliminating Iran’s nuclear and ballistic capability) or the operation should continue the military objectives are achieved as well as the political objective of overthrowing the Ayatollah regime.

Among Jews, the majority believe the operation should continue until both the military objectives and the political objective of overthrowing the Ayatollah regime are achieved (57%). This is compared to 36% of Jews who believe the operation should stop after achieving the military objectives only.

Among Arabs, a very high proportion (52%) answered that they do not know, and therefore we did not continue with further breakdown of the data.

A breakdown by political orientation (Jews) shows that on the Left, the higher proportion (43%) favor stopping the operation after achieving the military objectives. In the Center, about half believe it should continue until both the military objective and the political objective of overthrowing the Ayatollah regime are achieved (49%), and on the Right a majority of about two-thirds answered that it should stop only after achieving both the military and political objectives.

How long should the operation continue? (%, Jews)

Survey Methodology

The Operation “Roaring Lion” Survey was prepared by the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute. The survey was conducted online between March 2-3, 2026. 500 men and women were interviewed in Hebrew and 99 in Arabic, constituting a nationally representative sample of the entire adult population in Israel aged 18 and over. The maximum sampling error for the total sample is ±4.00% at a confidence level of 95%. Fieldwork was carried out by the iPanel company. The full data file will be available at: https://dataisrael.idi.org.il 

[1] There are two key types of bomb shelters in Israel: a “mamad” which is a safe room within a home or apartment unit, and a “miklat,” which is a shelter shared by multiple housing units or by a neighborhood.