A majority of Israelis support Ukraine in the war with Russia - survey

Ukraine has the support of 90% of Israel's left-wing citizens compared to 68% in the right.

 PEOPLE PARTICIPATE in a solidarity rally for Ukraine, outside the Knesset in Jerusalem. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
PEOPLE PARTICIPATE in a solidarity rally for Ukraine, outside the Knesset in Jerusalem.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Some 76% of Israelis support Ukraine, according to a survey conducted by Shlomo Filber and Tzuriel Sharon of Direct Polls LTD that was published on Friday.

The survey questioned adults in the Israeli population regarding which side they support in the Russian-Ukrainian war and their opinion on the government's neutral policy during it. 

Compared to 76% of the population who supported the Ukrainians, only 10% expressed support for the Russian side. Politically, 90% of people who identified as left-wing supported Ukraine compared to 68% of right-wing voters. Within the Arab-Israeli population, there was a 35% support for the Russian side compared to 41% for the Ukrainians.

Regarding the management of government's policy of neutrality, just over half of the population supported the government's neutrality, compared to 34% who objected to it. Among the political camps, almost half of right-wing people supported the neutrality policy as opposed to a slightly broader agreement among the center and left camps, where the support stands at 64% and 65% respectively. 

The Ukrainian-Russian war, or the Russian invasion of Ukraine, began on February 24th 2022, has dragged many condemnations from all around the globe including a formal condemnation from the United Nations General Assembly where 141 nations voting in favor of the condemnation with Israel among them.

The Israeli government has given a formal condemnation of Russia's actions and expressed support for the Ukrainian people. 

A view shows thermal power plant destroyed by shelling, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region, Ukraine (credit: VIA REUTERS)
A view shows thermal power plant destroyed by shelling, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region, Ukraine (credit: VIA REUTERS)

There have been multiple civilian demonstrations of support for the Ukrainian people in Israel and calls for a more decisive policy from the government. Experts say Israel has not taken more aggressive measures against Russia in order to maintainits freedom of operations in Syria.