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Israeli Voters More Right Wing

Majority view Prime Minister Netanyahu favorably and consider economy most important issue

AP
January 11, 2013

The raw results of a poll released ahead of Israel’s 2013 parliamentary elections by the Times of Israel Thursday revealed a majority of Israelis self-describe themselves as right wing, have a favorable opinion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and consider economic issues the most important issue for the next government of Israel.

The Times of Israel polled those over the age of 18 years old who have the right to vote.

When asked to choose which issue (out of six) was most important for the next government of Israel, economic issues ranked first overwhelmingly at 43 percent. The deterioration of relations with the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza fell far behind at 16 percent. The Iranian threat came in fourth with just 12 percent of those polled saying it was the most important issue.

The majority (38 percent) of those polled self-described themselves as having right-of-center political beliefs. Only 16 percent of those polled described their views as left of center.

Those polled had an overall positive view of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Forty-one percent held a somewhat positive view and 13 percent held a very positive view.

However, those polled were less positive about Netanyahu’s service as prime minister: More of those polled rated his service as ‘fair’ or ‘bad’ than ‘excellent’ or ‘good.’

The poll seems to reflect that Netanyahu is likable but voters do not yet approve of the job he’s doing. He seems likely to win again despite this conflict.

Published under: Israel , Middle East