73% of Israelis dissatisfied with Netanyahu amid terror upsurge
Liberman rated leader most capable of tackling new wave of attacks, followed by Bennett and then PM; Herzog and Lapid score low
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Almost three-quarters of Israelis are dissatisfied with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the current surge in violence and terrorism.
A survey Saturday, commissioned by Israel’s Channel 2 and conducted by Midgam, found that 73 percent of respondents were either “dissatisfied” (35%) or “very dissatisfied” (38%) with the prime minister’s leadership in light of the security situation.
When asked who would be the most capable leader in curbing the attacks, 22% said Yisrael Beytenu chairman and former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman.
Jewish Home party chief Naftali Bennett came in second with 17% and Netanyahu third with 15%.
Former chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi received 9%, while Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog got 5% and centrist Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid 4%.
According to the poll, 79% said they felt less safe in recent weeks.
The TV report did not mention sample size, methodology or margin of error.
The survey came hours after two more terror attacks hit Jerusalem on Saturday, the 13th and 14th stabbings targeting Jews since October 3, when a Palestinian terrorist killed two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City.
On Saturday morning, a Palestinian teenager stabbed and wounded two ultra-Orthodox Jews, aged 62 and 65, just outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem. Police shot and killed the 16-year-old terrorist, later identified as Ishak Badran of Kafr Aqab in East Jerusalem.
Hours later, another East Jerusalem teenager was killed when carrying out a similar attack. Muhammad Said Muhammad, 19, from Shuafat in East Jerusalem, stabbed a Border Police officer in the neck, also outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate before being shot dead by officers.
The wave of attacks started in Jerusalem last month over what Israel insists are unfounded Palestinian claims that Israel is expanding its presence at the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
