Poll: Two-Thirds of Israelis Favor Center-Right Government

YERUSHALAYIM
government, politics, coalition, Israel, Israeli, Knesset
The Knesset building in Yerushalayim. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Whatever may be the political fate of embattled Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the ideological perspective he represents continues to have a strong grip on the Israeli electorate.

A poll published Tuesday indicated that about a whopping majority of 70 percent of Israelis say they prefer a right or center-right government. Only 24 percent said they support a left-wing or center-left government.

The data was gathered by the monthly Peace Index of the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University. 500 Jewish and 100 Arab adults were interviewed and the poll had a 4.1 percent margin of error.

In fact, the continuance of right-wing dominance seems a foregone conclusion, as 81 percent of those favoring the center-left said they expect the next government will be led by the right.

Public support for the political status quo appeared to be consistent with perceptions about national security. About 50 percent rated the current security situation as good or very good, while 35 percent said they thought it was only “so-so.” Only 14 percent say its bad or very bad. Diplomatically, 32 percent of Jews says things are good or very good, 38 percent say they are so-so and 26 percent say they are bad or very bad.

Meanwhile, in another poll release on Tuesday, Netanyahu himself fared less well. According to a Testnet poll, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party would beat a Netanyahu-led Likud by 29 seats to 27 if elections were held now.

On the other hand, if former Likud minister Gideon Saar would top the Likud slate, it would be a 29-29 tie. The poll was timed to favor Saar, however, who presumably gave himself a boost with the announcement of his return to politics on Monday night.

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