Israeli Voice Index

62% Oppose the Immunity Law

| Written By:

A special survey finds that the 62% of the Israeli public is opposed to the Immunity Law, 47% think that if the law passes it should only be applied to new cases, and 39% oppose strengthening the Knesset at the expense of the courts

Flash 90

The special survey on the Immunity Law of the Israeli Voice Index, by the Guttman Center at the Israel Democracy Institute, published today, finds that the 62% of the Israeli public is opposed to the Immunity Law, 47% think that if the law passes it should only be applied to new cases, and 39% oppose strengthening the Knesset at the expense of the courts.

Main Findings

Immunity Law - not a question of Right and Left

Notwithstanding Netanyahu’s victory in the recent elections the majority of Israelis (62%) oppose passing the Immunity Law. Close to half of right-wing supporters (48%)  oppose such legislation, and  the opposition is even stronger  among the moderate right (67%) and center (85%). Only 29.5% of the public and 36% of  right-wing supporters, believe  that if the Immunity Law is passed,  it  should be apllied retroactively. Even among  Likud supporters, less than half (47.5%) think that the law should applied retroactively.

Opposition to Immunity Law by Political Party

When looking at opposition to the Immunity Law by political party –we see that even within the Likkud there isnt a clear majority in favor of the legislation. Only 35% support the Immunity Law. Even within the United Right Party, only 24% support the Immunity Law while 40.5% oppose it, and 35% are undecided. The only parties whose supporters overwhelmingly support the Immunity Bill – are the ultra Orthodox Parties (United Torah Judaism and Shas).

The Courts are too Strong and their power should be reduced the Israeli public is divided over the question as to whether or not legislation is necessary to strengthen the Knesset at the expense of the courts – 41% agree that the Knesset should be strengthened at the expense of the courts (61% of right-wing, 23% of center and 10% of left-wing) and 39% oppose weakening the courts. 

The survey was conducted by the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research of the Israel Democracy Institute. In the survey, which was conducted on the internet and by telephone (to ensure the adequate representation of groups that are not represented proportionally on the network) on May 21st 604 men and women were interviewed in Hebrew and 101 in Arabic, constituting a representative national sample of the entire adult population of Israel aged 18 and older. The maximum sampling error for the entire sample was 3.7%± at a confidence level of 95%. The fieldwork was conducted by the Rafi Smith Institute. For the full data file see: https://dataisrael.idi.org.il/