Vast majority of Jewish Israelis support Operation Roaring Lion, Arab-Israelis skeptical - poll

An overwhelming majority of Jewish Israelis (93%) voiced their support for Operation Roaring Lion in a survey released by the Israel Democracy Institute on Wednesday, compared to only 26% of Arab Israelis.

The survey broke down Jewish responses by political affiliation, revealing that, while Right, Center, and Left respondents all possessed a majority in favor of the operation, the majority was significantly smaller among the left wing (76%) than among the center (93%) or right (97%).

Respondents were also asked about their feelings regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ability to manage the operation. Only 16% of Arab Israelis responded that they trusted Netanyahu in this regard, while 74% of Jewish Israelis trusted him in at least some capacity.

The survey showed that only a minority (40%) of left-wing respondents trusted Netanyahu to any extent. Center respondents were more confident in his abilities, with 62% believing that he could be trusted to manage the operation, while the right-wing was the most supportive of Netanyahu at 85%.

Trust in US President Donald Trump also showed large differences by political camp. 

Only 43% of Arab Israelis and 64% of Jewish Israelis believed that Israel's security is one of Trump's main considerations. This opinion is reflected by the majority of Center and Right respondents (62% and 70% respectively), but only a minority on the Left agrees (34.5%).

Another question asked by the survey was how long respondents believed the war should continue, with the options presented being "Until the military objectives are achieved (elimination of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic
capability)," and "Until the military objectives are achieved as well as the political objective of overthrowing the Ayatollah regime."

Over half (52%) of Arab Israelis responded with "Don't know." Among Jewish Israelis, 57% believed that the war should continue until the Ayatollah regime is overthrown, while 36% believed that the war should stop once the military objectives are achieved. Two-thirds (64%) of right-wing Jews wanted the war to continue until the regime is overthrown, compared to 49% of centrists and 36% of the left-wing.

Another topic investigated by the survey was the level of safety Israelis feel during Operation Roaring Lion, on an individual level.

Most (64%) of Israelis feel fairly or very protected from Iran's attacks. However, this number differs widely between Jewish and Arab respondents. Only 15% of Arabs expressed feeling largely safe, compared to 74% of Jews.

There was also strong variation in how safe different genders felt. While Jewish women still expressed feeling safer than Arab women (67.5% and 8% respectively), both groups felt less safe than their male counterparts (81% of Jewish men and 22% of Arab men).

Another factor which influenced feelings of safety was, predictably, the availability of a safe room or public shelter (a mamad or miklat). Those who had a safe room in their homes or access to a public shelter felt more protected than those who had access to neither. Those with access to a safe room or shelter reported feeling protected 69.5% of the time, compared to only 15% for those without.

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