Israel Matzav

Not so dumb after all

A poll released by Israel's Channel 2 television on Tuesday shows that most Israelis oppose a 'cease fire' with Hamas.

The majority of the Israeli public is against a ceasefire with Hamas at this time, a poll conducted for Channel 2 News on Tuesday found.

53% of respondents said they opposed a ceasefire with Hamas, while 35% said they support it. 12% said they did not know or refused to answer.

At the same time, a majority of respondents were pessimistic about Operation Protective Edge bringing an end to the rocket fire from Gaza. 92% said they believe that the operation will not end the rocket fire, and only 6% said that they believe that Hamas would stop the rocket fire after the operation.

Respondents were also asked whether they were satisfied with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s performance over the past week. 53% said they were satisfied with Netanyahu's performance, compared to 35% who thought the Prime Minister’s performance during Operation Protective Edge was not satisfactory.

I would say that most of that pessimism is because we don't believe that the IDF will actually be allowed - by our government and by the 'international community' - to wipe out Hamas. If the IDF were allowed to destroy Hamas, the rocket fire would likely stop for a long time to come.

As to Netanyahu's performance, I would love to see a breakdown between those who are dissatisfied because he is too harsh and those who are dissatisfied because he is not harsh enough. I would bet that most of those who are dissatisfied fall into the second category. 

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, Israeli polls, Operation Protective Edge

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:23 AM