A public opinion poll conducted by a team of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and published yesterday (Tuesday), showed that the majority of the public in Israel opposes launching an attack on Iran in response to the attack carried out by the latter against Israel last Saturday-Sunday night.

According to the poll, 74% of Israelis said that they oppose an Israeli attack on Iran, as it would undermine the security alliance with countries allied with Israel, which participated in intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles and drones launched by Tehran towards Israel. 52% of them believed that it was useless to respond to the Iranian attack with the aim of ending the current round of combat, while 48% of them affirmed that Israel must respond, even if it were at the cost of prolonging the current round of combat between the two sides.

Regarding the nature of the attack that Israel threatens against Iran, 25% of supporters of launching the attack said that it should take place on Iranian territory, while more than a third of the respondents expressed their support for launching a strategic attack aimed at removing the Iranian nuclear threat.

46% of respondents said that Israel is strong vis-à-vis Iran, while 27% of them confirmed that Israel is weak vis-à-vis Iran, and 27% considered that Israel is neither strong nor weak vis-à-vis Iran.

More than half of the respondents expressed their support for the need for Israel to respond to security demands put forward by its allied countries, while 12% opposed this. About 60% stressed that the aid provided by the United States in order to repel the Iranian attack requires Israel to conduct security coordination with the United States.

On the other hand, 43% of respondents said that countries allied with Israel should be relied upon in everything related to settling the war on the Gaza Strip, while a quarter of respondents opposed this, and a third of them declined to answer this question.

The survey included a representative sample of 1,466 people representing all segments of the adult population in Israel from all national, sectarian and religious affiliations, and from various residential areas.

On the other hand, a report broadcast by Israeli TV Channel 12 yesterday stated that Israel, in light of its threats to attack Iran, anticipates the possibility of strengthening military cooperation between Iran and Russia, in the wake of the war in Ukraine and the arms purchases exchanged between these two countries, which included air defense systems and aircraft of various types, as well as cooperation between them in the field of space.

The report indicated that Iran has sold thousands of drones to Russia, which the latter uses in daily attacks against Ukraine. It explained that these drones are similar to those used by Iran during its attack against Israel last Saturday-Sunday night. During the past year, Russia and Iran established a security factory in the Russian region of Tatarstan, where Iranian drones are manufactured and their speed and power are developed for the benefit of the Russian army. There were also reports that Iran was supplying Russia with large quantities of weapons, including bullets and other ammunition.

According to the report, Israel expects that this military cooperation between Russia and Iran would help the latter curb the Israeli attack against it.

In addition to all of the above, the report notes that Russia has an interest in strengthening Iranian air defense systems so that they will be effective if the United States decides in the future to attack Iranian targets. He also notes that the strengthening of Russian-Iranian military cooperation came against the backdrop of the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Iran on the one hand, and the United States and Western European countries on the other hand.

The report considered that there could be a Russian interest in maintaining the war in the Middle East, and perpetuating it to varying degrees, with the aim of diverting global and American attention from the ongoing war in Ukraine. At the end of last November, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced a deal to supply Iran with advanced Sukhoi 35 combat aircraft and Mi-8 military helicopters. Since the beginning of 2019, Iran has been using the Russian S-300 air defense system. There are Israeli estimates that Iran may have requested during the past year to purchase batteries of the S-400 air defense system, which is considered the most effective against American F-35 warplanes, and which Israel obtained. However, high-ranking Israeli military sources doubted the possibility of Russia supplying S-400 batteries to Iran, due to the continuing war in Ukraine.

Finally, the Israeli TV channel report indicated that Russia launched the Iranian “Khiyam” satellite in 2022, which Israel considered to have greatly developed the capabilities of Iranian satellites. All of this comes in addition to Russian diplomatic support for Iran in the nuclear field, and its right to enrich uranium.