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<\/a><\/p>\nA view of the destruction on the exterior walls of Al-Rahmah Mosque following an alleged arson attempt during a raid by Israeli settlers in the village of Qusra near Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine, on July 26, 2026. (Photo by Issam Rimawi\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Coupled with another 18% who called them \u201cnationalist criminals,\u201d the results demonstrate the degree to which the rioters, whose actions have roiled Israel\u2019s relations with its allies, including the Trump administration, are outliers in Israel, JPPI President Yedidia Stern said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe survey shows that support among Israelis for the Jewish rioters in the West Bank is truly negligible, at just 5%,\u201d Stern said in a release accompanying the poll. \u201cMore than half the public judges them very harshly, as terrorists or criminals, while others view them with varying degrees of severity. This represents an unusually broad consensus in Israel\u2019s polarized society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only 13% of the respondents chose one of the two most lenient descriptions: \u201cyoung people who sometimes go too far\u201d or \u201cthe salt of the earth.\u201d <\/p>\n
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure from the Trump administration and European nations to crack down on the rioters. Netanyahu has until recently resisted serious action, mindful that a significant portion of his coalition includes far-right parties sympathetic to varying degrees with the rioters. Earlier this month, Netanyahu ordered some of the outposts associated with the rioters removed.<\/p>\n
Views on the rioters differed according to political affiliation. Sixty-three percent of respondents on the left described the rioters as \u201cIsraeli terrorists,\u201d compared with 49% in the center and just 3% on the right. <\/p>\n
Arab Israelis were also more likely to use the term, at 55%, compared with 27% of Jewish Israelis.<\/p>\n
The survey referred to a recent incident in Qusra in which dozens of masked Israelis arrived in pickup trucks, threw stones at Palestinian residents and barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while members of the family were still inside, according to the Israeli military. Several Palestinians were wounded, and the rioters fled when security forces arrived. No arrests were made. <\/p>\n
The incident came weeks after another confrontation in Qusra in which Israeli settlers set up an unauthorized outpost beside Palestinian homes. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee condemned that episode at the time as a \u201chorrific act of terror\u201d meant to \u201cintimidate and harass\u201d families. <\/p>\n
The survey was conducted September 1-3 among 663 Jewish respondents and 206 Arab respondents and weighted to represent Israel\u2019s adult population. JPPI did not list a margin of error.<\/p>\n