Most Israelis not bothered by reports of suffering and famine in Gaza, new poll shows
Palestinian children wait for a meal at a charity kitchen in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on 22 July 2025
Middle East Eye reports on 6 August 2025:
The vast majority of Israelis say they are not troubled by reports of famine and suffering in Gaza, a new poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute shows.
The survey shows that 79 percent of Jews in Israel were not troubled, or troubled at all, whereas 86 percent of “Arab” respondents were somewhat or very troubled by the reports about the war on Gaza.
“Arab” respondents in the survey refer to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
When the question was broken down by political affiliation, it shows that there is far greater concern among the left for the suffering and hunger, with 70 percent showing concern, whereas only 32 percent and six percent among the centre and right, respectively, are personally troubled by the reports.
The survey was conducted between 27-31 July.
The world’s leading hunger monitoring system last week issued a warning that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza due to the Israeli-imposed starvation and siege. “Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,” the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in its report.
The warning comes as at least 150 Palestinian children and adults in Gaza have succumbed to death from starvation since Israel’s onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023. The low number of Israelis concerned about famine and suffering in Gaza may be correlated with the number of people who believe the Israeli army’s reporting on the extent of the civilian casualties in Gaza.
A clear majority of Israeli Jews, 70 percent, believe the Israeli army’s reporting on the number of civilian casualties in Gaza, whereas the vast majority of Palestinian citizens of Israel, 63 percent, do not believe those numbers.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza counts over 60,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, with the vast majority of those civilians, women and children. Ministry numbers have been broken down by name, age and gender. The Israeli army, as of May of this year, puts the count at 30,000, with 14,000 of those labelled “combatants”. Israel has yet to provide any methodology or verification of those numbers.
The health ministry’s numbers are widely accepted globally, with the British medical journal, The Lancet, having estimated that the 60,000 number is a vast undercount.
When asked about the claim that “Israel’s actions are restricted by the fighting, but it is making substantial efforts to avoid causing unnecessary suffering to Palestinians in Gaza” was correct, the vast majority of Israeli Jews, 78 percent, believed it to be accurate.
The Israeli public, however, does not align with the state on the issue of settler violence and accountability against them. Nearly half of the Israeli public, 44 percent, believe security forces are too lenient towards Israeli settler violence, whereas 23 percent think the response is appropriate, and 22 percent think they deal with them too harshly.
The majority of Palestinian citizens of Israel, 61 percent, think security forces are too lenient on the issue.