The latest poll of Israeli public opinion showed that the current Prime Minister’s popularity has dropped to 38%, compared with 77% towards the beginning of the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip, this past summer.According to the poll, conducted by the Hiwar Center for Haaretz Israeli newspaper and published Sunday morning, 35% of the Israeli public believes that Netanyahu is appropriate to continue his leadership, in compasrison to 42% at the end of the latest aggression.
However, Al Ray reports that the poll placed Netanyahu as the strongest candidate to head the next government, while 17% of the respondents support Labor Party leader Yitzhak Herzog as a prime minister, followed by the president of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is our home), Avigdor Lieberman, with 8%.
Regarding the number of seats which the parliamentary blocs would get if the elections happened today, the Likud Party has maintained the highest number of seats (24), followed by Jewish Home party with 16 seats, and Labor with 13.
Leader of the dissenting party of the Likud, Moshe Ekhalon, got 12 seats, Yisrael Beiteinu got 11. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid (‘There’s Future’) party has reportedly fallen back to 11 seats.
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Hundreds of Israelis gathered, on Saturday night, in front of Netanyahu’s residence, in protest of the recently proposed ‘Jewish State’ bill.
According to the Palestinian News Network, the crowd consisted of left wing Israelis and members of Peace Now movement.
Police reported that the protesters carried signs condemning Netanyahu’s legislative draft because it serves democracy to Jews only.
While Netanyahu claims that the draft is for the sake of bringing balance to both Jewish and democratic characteristics within Israel, Peace Now said the draft embodies ‘nationalism, racism and aggression’.
Furthermore, according to the Jerusalem Post, opposition leader Isaac Herzog, of the Labor party, has called on Netanyahu to resign.
‘You talk more and more and more about nationality in order to avoid addressing the inability of the public to afford buying a house,’ he told the PM on Saturday.
