A new survey indicates that 82% of Jewish Israelis support the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, reflecting broad public backing for the Israeli government’s military actions and plans for population transfer. The poll, conducted by Geocartography for Penn State University in early March, also found that more than half of respondents favor the expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel.
Alarmingly, nearly half of those surveyed agreed with a biblical analogy suggesting that the Israeli military should act as the ancient Israelites did in Jericho, killing all inhabitants of enemy cities.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, recently created a military body to facilitate the forced migration of Gaza’s population. The country’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, openly stated this week that Gaza would be “conquered, cleansed, and occupied,” calling for Palestinians to be pushed to southern Gaza and then relocated to other countries.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has endorsed Smotrich’s comments, describing them as “speaking the truth.” Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed discussions with other countries about potentially accepting displaced Palestinians, although details remain unclear.
The United Nations reports that about 80% of Gaza is now off-limits to Palestinians, with hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced. Egypt and Jordan have resisted US pressure to accept Palestinian refugees, while other potential host countries include Sudan, Morocco, Syria, and Somaliland.