Israelis turn their backs on Netanyahu
Although many Israelis are in favor of the military operation to destroy Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not benefit from it. Quite the opposite: according to a new survey, few want him to remain in office in the long term. This is a trend that has been observed since the Hamas attack.
According to a survey, not even one in six Israelis (15 percent) want Benjamin Netanyahu to remain prime minister after the end of the Gaza war. This is the result of a survey published by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) - despite the fact that the majority of respondents are in favor of continuing the military offensive against Hamas ordered by Netanyahu.
In the survey, 23 percent of respondents were in favor of opposition politician Benny Gantz as prime minister, a centrist and political rival of Netanyahu. Around 30 percent wanted neither Netanyahu nor Gantz as head of government. Gantz is currently a member of Netanyahu's war cabinet. Liberal opposition politician Jair Lapid did not join the panel, citing the participation of radical right-wing parties in the government under Netanyahu.
56 percent of respondents believe that military action is the best way to free the hostages held in the Gaza Strip from the hands of the radical Islamic Hamas and its allies. 24 percent are in favor of a swap deal with Hamas, whereby hostages are released and Palestinians are released from Israeli custody in return. There are still 129 people in the hands of Hamas. Around 100 hostages were released at the end of November in return for the release of imprisoned Palestinians.
Netanyahu has declared the destruction of Hamas to be his goal. In his view, massive military pressure on the Gaza Strip is crucial for the release of the hostages still being held there. As recently as Saturday, Netanyahu declared that it would take months to achieve victory against Hamas.
Popularity has fallen significantly since Hamas attack
Several polls have already shown that the popularity of the politician from the conservative Likud has fallen considerably since the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 and the massive Israeli counter-offensive. According to a survey in December, 69 percent of Israelis want a parliamentary election to be held as soon as the war is over.
Netanyahu has been criticized, among other things, for the judicial reform, which was recently overturned by the Supreme Court. There have also been accusations against the head of government in recent months that he is not doing enough to secure the release of all hostages. In addition, many Israelis believe that the security authorities should have foreseen the Hamas attack on October 7.
Netanyahu leads a coalition that is politically further to the right than any before it. In addition to his conservative Likud party, it also includes ultra-orthodox and radical anti-liberal parties. They all reject a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
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In light of the survey results, it's clear that despite many Israelis supporting the military operation against Hamas, their support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waned significantly. Only 15% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain in office post-Gaza war, according to the Israel Democracy Institute.
Despite Netanyahu's strong stance on the 'Israel war' and his goal of destroying Hamas, his popularity has taken a hit due to various factors, including recent criticisms of his judicial reform, handling of hostage situations, and perceived mistakes in preventing the Hamas attack.
Source: www.ntv.de
