IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz surveys reserve troops on Yom Kippur in 2011. Photo: IDF Spokesperson.

JNS.org – Israel is unlikely to be caught off guard like it was when the Yom Kippur War erupted in 1973, contend 43.5 percent of Israeli Jews in a new Israel Hayom poll; 31.8 percent believe Israel’s enemies could launch a surprise attack, reminiscent of the events of Oct. 6, 1973; and 24.7 percent have no opinion on the matter.

The poll was conducted on Sept. 11 by New Wave Research using a random and representative sample of 500 Hebrew-speaking Jews who are 18 or older.

Asked who was the victor in the war, a majority—63.8 percent—said Israel, 14.4 percent said the Arab states, and 21.8 percent said they had no opinion. When asked if Israel had drawn the necessary conclusions in the aftermath of the war, 56.2 percent of respondents answered yes, 23.9 percent answered no, and 19.8 percent had no opinion.

Israel’s biggest mistake in the run-up to the war was its overconfidence, according to 36.6 percent of those polled, with 20.1 percent blaming Israel’s intelligence agencies. Israel’s biggest mistake was belittling its enemies according to 15.9 percent, and 6.1 percent said the diplomatic stalemate in the 1970s was what led to the war’s outbreak. Israel’s chief shortcoming was the conduct of the military’s top brass according to 3.4 percent of respondents; and 17.9 percent said they had no opinion.