New York – A new poll has shown that only a small minority of Israelis — 13% — still believe that Israel was the victor in last year’s war in Lebanon against the Islamist terrorist group, Hizballah. According to the poll carried out by Maagar Mohot Survey Institute (headed by Professor Yitzchak Katz for Israel Radio’s “Hakol Diburim” (It’s All Talk) yesterday, 37% of Israelis believe Hizballah won the war and 39% believed neither had done so.

This contrasts sharply with a similar survey undertaken in August 2006, immediately following the war, in which more than double the present number of Israelis — 28% — believed Israel had been victorious, in contrast to 24% who believed then that Hizballah had been victorious. The new poll also found that 27% of Israelis believe that Israel’s security situation has worsened since the war, as opposed to only 15% who believed it had improved, 33% who believed the security situation remained the same and 25% who were undecided (Independent Media Review Analysis, July 5).

ZOA National Chairman of the Board Dr. Michael Goldblatt said, “The latest poll results show that the Israeli public is losing what faith only a minority of it had in the first place in Israel’s management of the war and its diplomatic outcome. As the ZOA has pointed out before , Hizballah is continuing to rebuild its positions and has taken delivery of offensive weaponry with which it can one day renew its attack on Israel. We also criticized in detail at the time the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (UNSC 1701), which established the post-war arrangements, for harming Israeli interests by permitting the continued survival and rebuilding of Hizballah while hampering the means for Israel to prevent this from happening.

“All this has contributed to an understanding by the Israeli public that the war did not secure the aim of ending Hizballah as a fighting force. As a result, dangers multiply. We again urge both Israel and United States governments to develop a clear political and military strategy for depriving Hizballah of its lines of support and to ensure that it is not allowed to re-emerge and threaten another major war on Israel.”