“Majority of Israelis Want Elections After War Ends, New Poll Shows”
A new poll published this Tuesday reveals that 69% of Israelis want the country to hold new elections as soon as the war with Hamas comes to a close. The figure is close to 100% (98.5%) on the political left and a slim majority (51.5%) on the political right, where Netanyahu’s government is based.
According to the survey conducted by the Israel Institute for Democracy (IDI), the majority of voters (57%) stated that they will remain in the same political bloc as in the last elections, but are open to changing parties. This sentiment was echoed by 28% of respondents who remain undecided.
The IDI polled 604 people in Israel by telephone and online in Hebrew and Arabic from December 11 to 13. The margin of error for the full sample is four points.
The poll also shed light on Israel’s war goals, with a clear majority of Israeli Jews (71.5%) believing that the country’s central goal of destroying Hamas is achievable. However, when the country’s Arabs are included, the figure drops to 65%.
On the other hand, only about a third of Israelis (35.5%) believe the goal of returning the remaining 129 Israeli hostages home is achievable. This survey was conducted before Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages on Friday, which is unlikely to have raised the Israelis’ hopes of success.
With an uncertain future ahead, the future of Gaza has become an increasingly urgent issue for the Israeli government and the international community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for the Palestinian Autonomous Government to retake control of Gaza, raising questions about his plan. The poll revealed that two-thirds of Israelis do not believe he has one.
The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is also a pressing concern, as the Hamas-run Health Ministry reports that nearly 20,000 people have died. Even US President Joe Biden has criticized Israel for its “indiscriminate bombings.” Surprisingly, 81% of Jewish Israelis believe that Palestinian suffering should be taken into account to a “fairly small” or “very small” extent in war planning.
The survey was conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, with a sampling error of ±4.06% at a 95% confidence level. This was their seventh flash survey since the war began on October 7.