It’s hard to find criticism or questioning of the wisdom of the government’s response to Hamas’s rockets in Israel’s media (aside from the pages of the left-leaning Haaretz). Those Israelis who do view the war – which has claimed over 1,700 Palestinian lives so far – as counterproductive, have little sway in a climate where raising criticism against the war can lead to furious accusations of treason.

“There is criticism, but this isn’t the time to talk about it,” says 59-year-old Adele Raener, of Kibbutz Nirim, a small, tight-knit community that she says has always sought peace with its Gazan neighbors just over a mile away.

According to a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, 95 percent of Israeli Jews say the campaign is justified and less than four percent say the army has used excessive force.