Results of a new poll carried out by Israel’s Channel 13 revealed that more than 70 percent of the people in Israel disapprove Netanyahu and his performance as prime minister.
At a time when Israel is grappling with several political and security challenges like never before, results of a new poll showed that most Israeli people see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as responsible for the worrying status quo in Israel.
According to the poll that was conducted by Israel’s Channel 13 this Sunday, only 20 percent of participants approved Netanyahu and said that he is doing well as a prime minister. This is while 71 percent of Israelis disapproved Netanyahu’s performance and said that is doing badly.
Similarly, the poll also asked participants to vote for candidates in a simulated election. The result was again a disappointment for Netanyahu and his Likud party.
In this part of the poll, Netanyahu’s Likud party would garner just 20 Knesset seats, compared to the 32 it won in November. However, the poll also found that Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party would be the biggest winner, taking 29 Knesset seats. This number is more than double the 12 seats that the party currently holds in the Knesset.
Second to Gantz’s party, the most popular was former Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, with 21 seats. For the first time, the Channel 13 poll also saw respondents saying that they found both Lapid and Gantz more fit to hold the role of prime minister than Netanyahu.
According to the poll results, the far-right Religious Zionism party and Kahanist Otzma Yehudit faction lost 3 seats compared to 14 seats they both won in the last election.
It’s not just Netanyahu, the whole government in Israel is losing popularity
Aside from Netanyahu and his Likud party, the current coalition, comprised of the most right-wing and ultra-Orthodox, is also losing popularity among Israeli people. As the poll results found, the coalition that currently holds 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, could won only 46 seats in the simulated election. The diverse array of parties that made up the previous government, however, could claim victory and gained the majority of 64 seats.
The leadership of the new government in Israel was also questioned in the poll, where participants preferred Gantz to Netanyahu as prime minister. When asked whether Gantz or Netanyahu was a better choice as leader of the country, 51 percent of respondents chose Benny Gantz, compared to the 34 percent who opted for the current prime minister. When asked to choose between Lapid and Netanyahu, 41 percent supported Lapid, and just 37 preferred Netanyahu.
On the ability to run the government, the poll found that 27 percent of participants believe that the government knows how to handle the ongoing security crises in Israel. Among Likud voters, 48 percent said that they think the government can manage it, and 41 percent said that they do not trust the current government on this matter.
Finally, when asked if they want the current government to continue its job and stay in power, only 25 percent agreed. And 33 percent said they support a unity government instead, with nearly 33 percent saying that they prefer another round of elections to be held in Israel.
The poll was conducted by Prof. Camil Fuchs, a veteran Israeli statistician, is Professor of Statistics at Tel Aviv University, and it surveyed 699 Israelis. Of the 699 respondents, 599 were from the Jewish community, and 100 were not.
