A survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute released Monday found that a third of Israelis described Jewish rioters involved in recent violence in the West Bank village of Kusra as 'Israeli terrorists,' and 18% called them 'nationalist criminals,' the institute said.
Survey Finds a Third of Israelis Call West Bank Rioters 'Israeli Terrorists'
A survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute released Monday found that a third of Israelis described Jewish rioters involved in recent violence in the West Bank village of Kusra as 'Israeli terrorists,' and 18% called them 'nationalist criminals,' the institute said.
The survey also found that 5% of Israelis supported the Jewish rioters in the West Bank, JPPI President Yedidia Stern said, and 13% chose one of two most lenient descriptions: 'young people who sometimes go too far' or 'the salt of the earth.'
Views differed by political affiliation. 63% of respondents on the left described the rioters as 'Israeli terrorists,' compared with 49% in the center and 3% on the right. Arab Israelis were more likely to use the term, at 55%, compared with 27% of Jewish Israelis.
The survey referred to an incident in Kusra in which dozens of masked Israelis arrived in pickup trucks, threw stones at Palestinian residents and barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while members of the family were inside, according to the Israeli military. Several Palestinians were wounded, and the rioters fled when security forces arrived. No arrests were made.
The incident came weeks after another confrontation in Kusra in which Israeli settlers set up an unauthorized outpost beside Palestinian homes. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee condemned that episode at the time as a 'horrific act of terror' meant to 'intimidate and harass' families.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure from the Trump administration and European nations to crack down on the rioters. Netanyahu has until recently resisted serious action, mindful that a significant portion of his coalition includes far-right parties sympathetic to varying degrees with the rioters. Earlier this month, Netanyahu ordered some of the outposts associated with the rioters removed.
The survey was conducted September 1-3 among 663 Jewish respondents and 206 Arab respondents and weighted to represent Israel's adult population. JPPI did not list a margin of error.
- The source does not state a margin of error for the survey; JPPI did not list one.
- The source does not state the exact wording of the survey question or the full list of response options beyond the descriptions reported.
- The source does not state how many Palestinians were wounded in the Kusra incident.
- The source does not state whether any arrests, charges, or investigations followed the Kusra incident beyond reporting that no arrests were made.
- The source does not state Netanyahu's direct response to the survey or to pressure from the Trump administration and European nations.
- The source does not state the identities or affiliations of the rioters involved in the Kusra incident.
- The source does not state the total number of survey respondents, only 663 Jewish and 206 Arab respondents.
- The source does not state the calendar date of the survey's release beyond Monday and the article date of September 16, 2026.
Read the original at The Jerusalem Post