The U.S.-Iran agreement: Israeli public attitudes
A new survey reveals a starkly negative public verdict on Israel’s recent campaign against Iran and Hezbollah, with an overwhelming majority of Israelis viewing the outcome as a strategic failure rather than a victory.
An Israeli soldier in Gaza City in a photo released on Sept. 17, 2025. Photo by IDF Spokesperson/TPS-IL
According to the data, 92.1% of respondents believe Iran emerged as the winner, while 82.9% say the campaign weakened Israel’s long-term security.
Overall, 86.0% report negative feelings about both the agreement that ended the fighting and the way the campaign concluded.
The findings point to a deep crisis of confidence in the government’s management of the campaign and its subsequent victory narrative. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72.5%) say they do not believe the prime minister’s claims that Israel achieved significant gains or removed an existential threat. In total, 87.8% believe Israel either failed to achieve its objectives or achieved only part of them, and 56.4% rate Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the campaign as poor or a complete failure.
Despite this harsh assessment, the survey does not suggest a turn toward dovish views. On the contrary, 48.2% support launching a renewed major military operation against Hezbollah, even at the risk of direct confrontation with the U.S. president, compared with just 21.0% who oppose such a move. Public criticism is focused on the outcome and execution of the recent campaign, not on the underlying military objectives.
The negative judgment cuts across political lines. Among voters in the right-wing and Haredi bloc, 93.1% say Iran won and 73.1% believe Israel’s security was weakened. Yet 60.8% of these voters still rate Netanyahu’s performance as good or excellent, highlighting a gap between personal or partisan loyalty and evaluations of strategic results.
Politically, the fallout is already evident. The share of respondents who prefer Netanyahu as prime minister has fallen from 40.5% in early March to 29.4% in June, a drop of 11.1 percentage points. Support for former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot is rising, while “Other” has become the single largest category, underscoring growing public disillusionment with the current leadership.
The study was conducted by Dr. Nimrod Nir, Dr. Gayil Talshir, and Asa Shapira of the Agam Institute, in collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, between June 17 and 20, 2026.
The sample included 3,644 Israeli citizens aged 17 and over. The sample was designed and weighted to reflect Israel’s population by gender, age, religion, region of residence, vote in the election for the 25th Knesset, level of religiosity, ethnic background among Jewish respondents, and religious affiliation among Arab respondents. After weighting, Jewish respondents comprise 83% of the sample and Arab respondents 17%.
