Majority of Israelis are Dissatisfied with PM Netanyahu’s Handling of Coalition Negotiations
Additionally 51.5% think that Israel’s standing in the international community will worsen now that the new government has taken office and 48% think that the civil status of Arabs in Israel will deteriorate.
Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
Main findings:
Coalition Negotiations – Most Israelis (60%) assign Prime Minister Netanyahu a “terrible” or “very bad” grade for his handling of the coalition negotiations; 32% said his handling of the negotiations was “excellent” or “very good.”
Segmentation by voting in the most recent elections shows that Netanyahu receives positive grades from a majority of those who voted for parties in the new government (Likud, 59%; Religious Zionism, 57%; United Torah Judaism, 67%; Shas, 76%). However, a not inconsiderable share of voters for these parties, and especially Likud (38%) and Religious Zionism (36%) voters, give Netanyahu a negative rating for how he managed the negotiations.
62% of Israeli (66.5% among Jews and 38% among Arabs) think that the Likud made too many concessions to its coalition partners over the course of the negotiations– only 26% think not (25% among Jews and 37% among Arabs).
A breakdown by voting at the last elections reveals that only among voters for the two Haredi lists is there a majority who disagree with this assertion, while voters for the Religious Zionism party are divided.
Think that the Likud made overly large cocessions in response to the demands of the member parties in the coalition (total sample, as per vote at the 2022 elections, %)
Impact on Israeli Politics
The extent of impact on Israeli politics, relative to its share in the population - Three-quarters of interviewees said that the impact of Haredim on Israeli politics is large relative to their share of the population. The assessment regarding all the other groups is very different, with a majority of respondents saying that their impact on Israeli politics is small relative to their share of the population (women, 57%; LGBTQ+, 57%; Arabs, 55%).
What is the extent of the impact on Israeli politics of each of the following groups, relative to its share of the population? (total sample, %)
Worried about maintaining preferred lifestyle – 51.5% of Israelis are worried that they won’t be able to maintain their preferred lifestyle because of the increasing power of certain groups in Israeli society (49.5% among Jews, 61% among Arabs), 43% are not worried (46% among Jews, 26% among Arabs).
Impact of the formation of the new government
The most common opinion in the Israeli public is that formation of the new government will have a negative effect both on Israel’s international standing and on the civil status of Arabs in Israel.
Israel’s standing in the international community – 51.5% think it will worsen; 29% think it will improve, 9% will not have an effect and 11% don’t know.
Civil status of Arabs in Israel – 48% think it will worsen; 22% think it will improve, 15% will not have an effect and 14% don’t know.
Segmentation by political affiliation reveals that a majority on the Left (78%) and in the Center (61.5%) anticipate a worsening in both cases, compared with a minority on the Right (36%).
Regarding the expected effect on Israel’s standing in the international community, the differences between political camps (among Jews) are also significant: On the Left, 85% expect it to worsen, as do 74% of those in the Center. By contrast, only 36% on the Right estimate that Israel’s international standing will suffer as a result of the formation of the new government.
Interestingly, there are also similar shares of both the Jewish and Arab respondents who believe that the formation of the new government will have a negative effect on the civil status of Arabs in Israel (47% and 53%, respectively).
What is the likelihood of a wave of public protest breaking out soon against the new government, in the following forms:
Street demonstrations – 64% think it is likely (68% among Jews, 46% among Arabs); 27% think it is unlikely (25% among Jews, 38.5% among Arabs).
Tax rebellion (non-payment) – 22.5% think it is likely (22% among Jews, 25.5% among Arabs), 66% think it is unlikely (68% among Jews, 56.5% among Arabs), and 11.5% don’t know (10% among Jews, 18% among Arabs).
Not showing up for IDF reserve duty –19% think this is likely to happen (18% among Jews, 26% among Arabs), 68% think this is unlikely (72% among Jews, 51% among Arabs), 12% don’t know (10% among Jews, 22% among Arabs).
Increased emigration from Israel - The largest difference was found regarding the possibility of increased emigration from Israel to other countries: On the Left, a majority (60%) consider this likely, compared with 45% in the Center and 25% on the Right.
Very or fairly high likelihood of a wave of public protest breaking out soon against the new government, in each of the following forms (total sample; %)
The Israeli Voice Index for December 2022 was prepared by the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research of the Israel Democracy Institute. In the survey, which was conducted on the internet and by telephone (supplements of groups that are not sufficiently represented on the network) from 26-28 December 2022, 601 men and women were interviewed in Hebrew and 150 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 3.59%± at a confidence level of 95%. The fieldwork was done by the Midgam Institute. For the full data file see: Data Israel