Polls show Israeli public frustration over a showdown that did not fully defeat Iran.
(Al Jazeera) – An overwhelming number of Israelis oppose the US-Iran ceasefire deal declared last week, and anticipate a return to the war, a poll has found. The findings match observations by analysts, who say that Israeli political leaders promised a final showdown with Iran, only for the conflict to instead leave the Iranian government still standing.
According to the poll, published by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) on Sunday, 61 percent of respondents said they opposed the ceasefire, announced 90 minutes before United States President Donald Trump’s apocalyptic deadline on Tuesday, in which he had promised to launch devastating attacks on Iran’s civilian infrastructure. Additionally, 73 percent said they expected fighting with Iran to restart within the next year.
And the majority of respondents – 69 percent – said they support continued military action in Lebanon, irrespective of talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments that began in the US on Tuesday. Israel has continued to attack Lebanon, claiming it was excluded from the ceasefire, and killing more than 300 people in the past week in strikes that have led to widespread condemnation.
The expectation among many Israelis had been that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would finally make good on his promise to end what he has long framed as the existential threat from Iran. But the war Israel launched with the US on Iran on February 28 has, despite the death toll and spiralling economic cost, failed to deliver on that promise.
