Maariv: 66% of Israelis are concerned about the economic damage caused by the Gaza war
A poll published by the Israeli Maariv newspaper on Friday showed that 66% of Israelis are concerned about suffering personal economic harm as a result of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for 22 months.
The poll was conducted by the Lazar Research Institute for the private Maariv between August 13 and 14, on a sample of 502 adults in Israel (Jews and Arabs), with a margin of error of 4.4%.
The survey results showed that the vast majority of Israelis, 69%, fear that the continuation of the war in the Gaza Strip will harm social cohesion in Israel, while 26% say they are not concerned, and the remainder have no opinion.
The results indicated that the second most important source of concern in Israel was the personal economic damage caused by the ongoing war on Gaza, with 66% expressing concern about this, while 30% expressed no concern, and the remainder didn’t express an opinion on the matter.
In another context, the newspaper pointed to an expected increase in the number of seats for the ruling coalition in the Israeli Knesset to 50, up from 49 in last week’s poll, if elections are held today.
While the number of seats held by the opposition bloc in the Knesset, which includes Bennett’s and Eisenkot’s parties, decreased to 60 seats, compared to 61 in the previous poll, the number of seats held by the Arab parties remained unchanged at 10 seats, out of a total of 120.
The Israeli newspaper explained that the poll results came against the backdrop of disagreements between the political and military levels regarding the next step in the Gaza Strip.
According to reports, the Israeli army intends to call up between 80,000 and 100,000 reserve soldiers to participate in its potential operation to occupy the entirety of Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir approved the “central idea” of the plan to reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip, including the attack on the Zeitoun area south of Gaza City, which began Tuesday.
Israel’s intention to reoccupy the Gaza Strip has sparked official and popular criticism around the world, with warnings of further Palestinian casualties resulting from its war of extermination and systematic starvation policy.
The current military operation in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip is expected to continue until next year.
Rejecting the plan due to its potential threat to the lives of their relatives in Gaza, the families of hostages and soldiers killed in the fighting intend to launch a general strike, paralyzing life next Sunday, with the participation of companies and universities.
