Against the background of polarization and division in Israeli society, in recent days more and more voices have been heard in the liberal camp identified with the opposition – including journalists, opinion leaders and even politicians – saying that at this time the State of Israel needs a unity government.
35% of the public wants a unity government,
These calls are mainly aimed at Benny Gantz, who has already made a similar move and entered Netanyahu's government in the shadow of the coronavirus crisis. As of this writing, this scenario is far from reality, but the Israel Hayom survey, the second part of which is now being published, actually shows that a significant portion of the public is interested in such a government.
According to the findings of the survey, conducted by the "Brain Database" under the direction of Prof. Yitzhak Katz, 35% of the public prefers a national unity government, 27% prefer a center-left government, and 29% prefer a full-right government as it currently stands.
Against the background of polarization and division, voices are being heard calling for a unity government,
Gantz's dilemma is not simple. On the one hand, he and his colleagues are troubled by the situation and claim that the country is deteriorating into disaster, while the liberal public is slowly developing some legitimacy to enter the government.
Returning to a position of influence is the preference of any politician in an opposition desert, and Gantz could also claim to have saved the country from reform, from Ben-Gvir and from all the people his base fears so much.
On the other hand, Gantz is already experienced and personally burned by Netanyahu. The mistrust between them is skyrocketing. If he enters the government, there is a risk that it will not function.
Netanyahu may break promises again, then dissolve the government and go to elections as caretaker prime minister. Such a move could once again erode Gantz in the base, at a time when according to polls he could create a centrist alternative government in the next elections, and he is already dreaming of becoming prime minister.
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Another alliance with Netanyahu could kill Gantz's plans when he is soaring in the polls. The problem is that this is just a survey scenario. Netanyahu may also be present at the next elections, despite predictions related to a plea bargain in his trial.
No bloc will be decisive, Netanyahu will refuse to be second in rotation and will prefer to continue serving as interim prime minister, and Gantz will have to decide whether to serve as defense minister under Netanyahu or go to another election. So why not do it now? As already mentioned, a dilemma.
"Tertiary certificate" for the government
Apart from the issue of unity, seven months into office and at the end of the first Knesset session, in the Israel Hayom poll, the government receives low marks from the public, including those that chose the coalition parties.
satisfaction with the government's performance in various areas,
According to the results of the survey, the most negative grade was given to the government on the issue of dealing with the cost of living. 79% said the government's performance on this issue was negative, 13% were neutral, and only 8% gave it a positive grade. The scores are also low among government voters: 66% of Likud voters and 67% of Torah Judaism voters gave the government a negative grade on the issue.
The government also received a negative majority on the issue of the division in Israeli society. 75% of the public gave the government a negative grade for its performance on the issue, 15% neutral, and only 10% gave it a positive grade. Among voters for the coalition parties, 50% (on average) gave the government a negative grade.
Regarding the legal reform, 64% of the public gave the government a negative grade for its handling of the issue, 13% neutral, and 23% gave a positive grade. On the other hand, most of the coalition voters actually gave the government a positive grade on the issue: 44% of Likud voters, 64% of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, and 71% of Shas – perhaps because of the dialogue process at the president's residence, or because things were finally done gradually and with more information.
In contrast, half of Torah Judaism voters gave the government a negative grade, which connects to the anger of party representatives that the government is not promoting the draft law for them despite their support for the reform, and that despite this, all the fire is directed at them.
Negative grade for senior officials
In examining attitudes on the performance of figures in the political and public systems, Benny Gantz and the chief of staff received the highest positive scores (40% and 45%, respectively), compared with negative scores from 37% and 25% (respectively).
A grade passes with difficulty. Public trust in state institutions,
Those who received the highest negative score were Ben-Gvir (65%), Smotrich (64%), Netanyahu (59%), and Lapid (52%). Against the background of the departure of Education Ministry Director General Assaf Tzalel due to the social situation, Minister Kisch also stood out in the negative grade given to him by 49% of the respondents. Attorney General Bahar-Miara was also viewed negatively by 45% for her performance, compared to 32% who gave her a positive grade.
As for the public's trust in state institutions, the IDF still has the most trust: 73% trust it. In contrast, 60% expressed a low level of confidence in the government, the Knesset (57%) and the Israel Police (47%).
Opinions are divided regarding the Supreme Court: while 40% expressed low confidence in it, 35% had confidence in it. The gap is evident in the segmentation by political leaning.
While the level of trust in the court was extremely low among coalition voters (79% of voters for Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, 74% of Torah Judaism, 73% of Shas and 54% of Likud), among voters for opposition parties it was extremely high (74% of Labor voters, 68% of Yesh Atid, and 64% of the state camp).
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