Nearly three out of four Israelis fear a potential future attack similar in scale to the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, according to a television poll aired Friday.
The onslaught saw thousands of terrorists storm southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Israel has since waged devastating wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
Asked whether they fear that “another debacle like October 7 could take place in the future,” 74% of respondents to the Channel 12 poll said yes, 20% said no and 6% said they don’t know.
Asked whether Israel’s security situation has changed for the better or for worse since the onslaught, 33% of respondents said worse, another 33% said better, 27% said it hasn’t changed and 7% said they don’t know.
And asked whether they want the failures leading up to the massacre to be investigated by a statutory state commission of inquiry, whose members are selected by the Supreme Court president, 66% said yes, 25% said no and 9% said they don’t know.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
Such commissions of inquiry are Israel’s highest investigative authority, with the power to subpoena witnesses and recommend systemic changes. Under Israel’s 1968 Commissions of Inquiry law, the government decides whether to form a commission, and the chief justice chooses the members of the commission.
People attend a protest demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into security failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on February 7, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a commission whose members are appointed by the judiciary, which he claims is biased against him. His government is engaged in a years-long bid to weaken the judiciary, and has refused to recognize Justice Isaac Amit’s accession early last year to the role of Supreme Court president.
He has instead proposed a political commission to look into the events.
The Channel 12 survey was conducted by the Midgam polling company in cooperation with the iPanel firm. The outlet did not provide a sample size or margin of error.
We can’t do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this,please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I’ll join
Yes, I’ll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
