Poll: Plurality of Israelis think reason for no hostage deal is PM’s fear coalition will collapse

Channel 12 airs a survey showing that 47 percent of Israelis believe the reason there has yet to be another hostage deal is due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fear that such an agreement will lead to the collapse of his government.

Forty-three percent of respondents say that Hamas’s intransigence is the main reason. Ten percent of respondents say they’re unsure about the reason for the lack of a deal.

Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down the government if he agrees to the kind of hostage deal currently under discussion.

Repeated polls have indicated that a majority of Israelis back ending the war in exchange for the release of the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza — a tradeoff Netanyahu has rejected, arguing that it would allow for Hamas to reconstitute.