Israelis don’t believe PM on sub scandal – poll
Nearly half of Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is corrupt, but he is still the candidate found to be most suited to be prime minister, a poll conducted by Panels Politics for The Jerusalem Post’s sister newspaper Maariv found on Thursday.
Forty-eight percent of Israelis think Netanyahu is corrupt, while 38% say he is not and the rest do not know, according to the survey. More than half of the people polled (55%) said they do not believe Netanyahu knew nothing of alleged corruption in connection with the government’s purchase of submarines from Germany, while 30% believe him and another 15% don’t know.
Likud voters had markedly different answers, with 69% saying Netanyahu did not know about the corruption allegations and 80% saying he is not corrupt. Despite the public’s doubts,
Netanyahu was the most popular answer to the question of who is most suited to be prime minister, with 26% of the respondents choosing him, followed by none of the above (19%); Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid (14%); newly elected Labor leader Avi Gabbay (12%); Education Minister Naftali Bennett of Bayit Yehudi and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon of Kulanu tied at 8%; and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu (3%).
If an election were held this week, the Likud would remain the largest faction, with 24 Knesset seats; followed by Yesh Atid with 22 seats; Zionist Union with 19; Bayit Yehudi with 14; the Joint List with 11; Kulanu with nine; United Torah Judaism with seven; and Shas, Yisrael Beytenu and Meretz with five lawmakers each.
If Netanyahu is forced to resign, more than half (53%) of Israelis would prefer to go to an election, and only one-third (33%) would want a Likud-led government to complete its full term with a different minister at the helm. Right-wing voters were less likely to want an election (38%), whereas more than three-fourths of left-wing voters (77%) would want an election.
Nearly half (47%) of Israelis think the government’s consent to Germany to sell submarines to Egypt harms national security, while 23% disagree with the statement and the rest (30%) didn’t know. Of those who think that submarine deal harms national security, about half (49%) said it would influence the way they voted in the next election; 39% said it would not; and the remaining 12% didn’t know.
The poll was taken Wednesday through an online panel of 555 Israelis above age 18. Its margin of error is 4.3% •