Israel: Opinion poll – a shock to Netanyahu

Only 15% of Israelis want the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu He will remain on the sidelines when the war with Hamas in Gaza ends, although many still support his strategy to crush militants in the Palestinian enclave, according to an opinion poll. It was announced on Tuesday in Israel.

According to APE-MPE reports, Netanyahu promised to crush Hamas after the October 7 attack in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 others were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Israeli forces have turned a large part of the Gaza Strip into rubble during their retaliatory offensive that has been ongoing for nearly three months.

Netanyahu said this intense military pressure is also necessary to ensure the return of the remaining 129 hostages still being held in Gaza, after about 100 of them were released in late November in a swap deal that also included the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

In the survey conducted by the website Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), 56% of respondents said that continuing the military attack is the best way To recover the hostages, while 24% believe that the exchange process, which includes the release of thousands of other Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, is the best option.