December 12, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in Israel would oppose taking unilateral action against Iran, according to a poll by Shvakim Panorama released by Israel Radio. 67.2 per cent of respondents think their country should not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities alone, while 20.9 per cent would support such a strategy.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in Israel would oppose taking unilateral action against Iran, according to a poll by Shvakim Panorama released by Israel Radio. 67.2 per cent of respondents think their country should not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities alone, while 20.9 per cent would support such a strategy.

After being branded as part of an "axis of evil" by United States president George W. Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons. In June 2005, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Iran’s presidential election in a run-off over Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with 61.6 per cent of all cast ballots.

In December 2005, Ahmadinejad suggested that Israel be removed from the Middle East and questioned the Holocaust, saying, "They have fabricated a legend under the name ‘Massacre of the Jews’ and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves."

In December 2006 and March 2007, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity.

In October, Bush announced a new set of unilateral sanctions against Iran, which include the designations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "proliferator of weapons of mass destruction" and of the elite Quds Force as a "supporter of terrorism." The resolution has significant economic implications for Iran.

Earlier this month, a summary of the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found with "high confidence" that Iran stopped an effort to develop nuclear arms in the fall of 2003.

On Dec. 7, Israeli deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai suggested that the possibility of Israel launching a unilateral attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities is realistic, claiming that "no option" is "off the table." In 1981, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike in Iraq to destroy the Osiraq nuclear reactor.

Polling Data

Should Israel attack Iran’s nuclear facilities alone?

Yes	20.9%
No	67.2%
Other	11.9%

Source: Shvakim Panorama / Israel Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 562 Israeli adults, conducted on Dec. 5, 2007. No margin of error was provided.