A new survey published in Hebrew by Haaretz has sparked international alarm, revealing that significant portions of Israeli Jewish society now support policies amounting to ethnic cleansing, forced expulsions, and even genocidal violence against Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel.
According to the data, 82% of Jewish Israeli respondents support the forced deportation of Gaza’s population, while 56% back the expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel. Perhaps even more troubling, 47% endorse the notion that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) should kill all inhabitants of enemy cities — a stance evocative of biblical-era total war.
The survey also indicates that 65% believe in the contemporary relevance of “Amalek,” a biblical enemy of the Israelites. Of those, 93% believe the commandment to “blot out” Amalek should still apply today, a concept often cited by ultranationalist rabbis in recent months to justify the erasure of Palestinian presence.
These findings coincide with the resurgence of ideas first articulated two decades ago by Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, a U.S.-born spiritual leader linked to the extremist “Hilltop Youth” settler movement and previously detained by Israeli authorities for incitement. Ginzburg, who has openly praised the actions of Baruch Goldstein — the perpetrator of the 1994 Hebron massacre — outlined a vision in 2005 to dismantle democratic institutions and replace them with a Torah-based regime prioritizing Jewish supremacy.
In his influential sermon, now known as “Time to Crack the Nut,” Ginzburg described Israel as encased in four impure “shells”: the secular state, the judiciary, the media, and the military. He called for the destruction of the first three and the ideological “purification” of the IDF, advocating an end to what he derided as “gentile morals” such as the army’s historic emphasis on restraint.
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis, Ginzburg’s rhetoric has gained traction far beyond fringe settler circles. In a pamphlet published afterward, he interpreted the massacre as divine sanction to enact biblical vengeance, calling for a “total annihilation” of Israel’s perceived enemies and describing civilian casualties as an acceptable “price for total victory.”
The survey also reflects a generational and institutional shift. Among Jewish Israeli men under 40 — the demographic that most frequently serves in active combat — only 9% rejected all forms of ethnic cleansing and extermination presented in the survey. Analysts point to systemic changes in the education system, which has leaned increasingly toward ethnonationalist curricula since the Second Intifada. Similarly, the judiciary and media, once considered bastions of secular liberalism, have shown increasing alignment with hardline policies, often avoiding open criticism of wartime conduct in Gaza.
In one stark example, Supreme Court Justice David Mintz recently invoked the concept of a “biblical war” in dismissing a petition to enforce humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza. The ruling effectively sanctioned the continued deprivation of food, water, and medical supplies to a besieged civilian population.
Experts caution against viewing this ideological shift as merely reactionary. According to scholars like Dr. Tamir Sorek of Penn State and Dr. Shai Chizkani of the University of Maryland, the roots lie in settler-colonial ideology that has long underpinned Zionist policy. “Zionism is not just a national movement,” Chizkani writes, “but a settler-colonial one, born of a desire to displace the indigenous population.”
He notes that like settler societies in the Americas, Israel’s ultra-nationalist currents now draw explicitly from biblical narratives to justify mass violence and permanent displacement. This fusion of messianic zeal and ethno-national policy, they argue, is fast becoming mainstream, especially as secular Zionism fails to offer a robust alternative rooted in egalitarianism and shared citizenship.
Observers warn that the current trajectory threatens to push Israeli society toward a theocratic and militarized order, one in which violence against non-Jews is not only tolerated but sanctified. As Ginzburg’s vision continues to unfold in real-time — sometimes without the direct involvement of his followers — the potential for broader regional destabilization and the erosion of democratic norms grows ever more acute.
“If there is any chance of halting this descent,” says Sorek, “it lies in a full rejection of Jewish supremacy, including in its secular guise, and the embrace of a political future rooted in equality for all inhabitants between the river and the sea.”
Clarification: This article is based on a Hebrew-language report from Haaretz , as well as academic commentary. All survey data reflects the stated findings of the source and has not been independently verified.
