The Haredi sector - the only one where the majority does not fear nuclear weapons for Saudi Arabia

September 30, 2023   

A survey conducted by the Kantar Institute and published this evening (Saturday night) on the program "All Political" on "Kan News" shows that most Israelis support a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, but most Israelis also fear the possibility of Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons. According to the survey, 56% of Israelis support the normalization agreement being formed with Saudi Arabia, 12% do not support it, and 32% do not know whether they support it or not. Of these, 63% of coalition voters support the agreement and only 9% of coalition voters oppose it. 67% of Likud voters support the agreement and 11% of Likud voters oppose it. Among opposition voters, 58% support the agreement with Saudi Arabia and only 16% do not support it. In other words, a large majority in favor of the agreement being formed with Saudi Arabia is larger among coalition voters. Yair Lapid warned that it is forbidden to sign an agreement that would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium on its territory: 39% of Israelis agree with this claim, while 28% disagree. Among opposition voters, 49% agree with Lapid's claim while 20% disagree. Among Likud voters - 27% agree with Lapid's warning and 44% disagree. Among coalition party voters, 40% disagree with Lapid's claim and 28% agree. Despite this, relatively high rates take Lapid's warning seriously, 47% of secularists, and opposition voters. Continuing the same trend, the sample was asked whether they were concerned about the possibility of Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons. Most Israelis, 54%, are concerned. Among coalition voters, 50% are concerned about the possibility of nuclear weapons, 21% even claimed that they are very concerned. Among Likud voters, 21% claimed that they are very concerned and another 28% claimed that they are concerned, a total of 49% of Likud voters expressed concern about the possibility of Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons. And among opposition voters, 18% are very concerned about the possibility of Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons and another 42% expressed concern, meaning a total of 60% expressed concern. Similarly, among secular voters, 59% announced that they were concerned, the Haredi sector being the only sector where the majority did not fear Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons, 45% expressed concern only.

The survey was conducted after Yom Kippur on 9/26/2023, with a sample of 601 men and women aged 18 and over, in an online sample, including the Arab sector. Number of people asked to answer the survey: 3,287, Sampling error: 4.0%+