Amid Israeli Election Chatter, 70% Want Right-Wing Rule
Image by getty images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — With talk of elections in the air, a new survey found that 70 percent of Israelis want a right-wing or center-right government.
According to the latest monthly Peace Index, published Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, only 24 percent of the country prefers a left-wing or center-left government. The survey included 500 Jewish and 100 Arab adults and had a 4.1 percent margin of error.
A coalition crisis over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition the creation of a more independent public broadcaster was averted this week. But the prime minister, who heads a staunchly right-wing government, remains under investigation for corruption, and many in Israel expect elections sooner than later.
Even many of those who want a government that tilts toward the political left do not expect to get one, the survey found. Fully 81 percent of Jews said they think a right-wing or center-right government is likely to be elected, compared to just 8 percent who said they see a left-wing or center-left government coming to power.
Among Arab Israelis, 58 percent said they want a left-wing government, but only 10 percent predicted this would happen if elections were held in the near future.
A series of polls in recent months have shown Yair Lapid, the head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, challenging Netanyahu for the premiership in snap elections. Known to read the public mood, Lapid last week said he would try to form a national unity government if given the opportunity.
Public support for the political status quo may reflect relative optimism about the country’s security situation, which half of Jews deem good or very good, according to the Peace Index. Some 35 percent say its “so-so,” and just 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.
The survey also found Israelis generally unworried about U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House. Some 75 percent of Jews and 88 percent of Arabs in Israel said they do not see this as a negative development. Trump has also invited Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to the White House as part of an apparent attempt to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Netanyahu last week enacted new restrictions on settlement building in as a goodwill gesture to Trump. Pro-settlement leaders have so far reacted with restraint.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
