According to the findings of a new poll released Sunday by Israeli daily Ha’aretz an overwhelming majority of 81% of respondents answered that incumbent Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is on course to retain his position at the January 22 early general elections.
The news comes despite widespread reports that the Israeli Prime Minister’s unpopular decision to agree to a ceasefire to end the Gaza escalation, in preference to leading a ground invasion against Gaza terrorist rulers Hamas, might have drastically affected his standing at the polls.
When compared directly to his key candidates, left wing Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich, and new Hatnuah party leader Tzipi Livni, Netanyahu was declared the most sutiable candidate, with some 64% of votes, with Livni leapfrogging her left-wing opponent Yachimovich into second place with 24% of public opinion.
Despite Netanyahu’s Likud party’s perceived shift further to the right, which has seen it join tickets with Foreign Minisiter Avigdor Lieberman’s staunchly right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, the results show this has not ceded its centrist fanbase to Livni’s newly-established party, with early indications showing Hatnuah has instead seized leftist votes, spelling danger signals for Livni’s former centrist Kadima party and Meretz, as well as Labor.
Lieberman’s party is predicted to be on course for 40 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, perhaps supporting the view that Lieberman’s harder line stance – he was thought to have strongly opposed agreeing to last month’s ceasefire – appeals to voters worried Israel’s diplomatic move brokered by Egypt and the US is being claimed as a victory by Hamas in Gaza.
The poll, conducted by Dialog on behalf of Ha’aretz in conjunction with Tel Aviv University, also found the majority of voters doubt Netanyahu’s claims his recent settlement expansion announcement was motivated by nationalist concerns, instead supporting the belief of much of the international community that it was a politically-motivated move in direct reaction to the successfully Palestinian bid for non-member observer status at the UN General Assembly, which Netanyahu last week insisted “constitutes a gross violation of the agreements that have been signed with the State of Israel; accordingly, the Government of Israel rejects the UN General Assembly decision".