The acute border tension this week between Israel and Hezbollah adds urgency to a closer look at the militia’s popular standing in Lebanon—especially in case of war. Fortunately, a reliable new Lebanese public opinion poll shows that some Shia are now voicing reservations about Hezbollah policies—even as Sunnis continue to be solidly negative and Christians divided about the organization. Evidence of these misgivings about Hezbollah among Shia is especially noteworthy given the social taboos and real personal risks they face in criticizing “their own” political/military movement.

Remarkably, according to the data only a third of Shia want Hezbollah forces “to start actively confronting Israel.” Even fewer Shia, just one-quarter, say that solving the Palestinian problem should be the top regional priority. On a different but related question, one-third do not fully agree that “Hezbollah works only to protect Lebanon and resist Israel, rather than serving any outside agenda.” And the proportion of Lebanese Shia who voice a “very positive” view of Hezbollah today, while still high at 77%, is down somewhat from 83% in the previous poll exactly one year ago.

Read more at The Washington Institute