Survey says Israelis split on receiving non-Jewish Ukrainian refugees

A survey by Israel’s Channel 12 reports mixed attitudes about receiving Ukrainian refugees.

The survey says 25% of Israelis support only allowing in Jewish refugees who qualify for citizenship under the Law of Return; 24% want to keep the cap on refugees who are not eligible for citizenship the government already announced; 24% want to increase the limit; and 13% want unlimited entry for refugees.

The survey says 53% of Israelis want to maintain Israel’s current policy toward the conflict.

Forty-four percent say Bennett should mediate between Ukraine and Russia, and 41% are against it.

Jewish immigrants fleeing the war in Ukraine arrive at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on March 9, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90)

The survey asks respondents about their voting choices in a hypothetical election, an Israeli survey staple, even though no election is on the horizon at the moment.

It finds that, in the 120-seat Knesset, Likud would win 34 seats; Yesh Atid, 17; Shas, 9; Yamina, 7; Blue and White, 7; Labor, 7; Religious Zionism, 7; United Torah Judaism, 7; Yisrael Beytenu, 6; Joint List, 6; Ra’am, 5; Meretz, 4; New Hope, 4.

The current coalition, consisting of some right-wing parties, centrist factions, left-wing parties and the Islamist Ra’am, would win 57 seats.

The opposition faction, including former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the religious parties, would also win 57. This would leave the balance of power with the Arab-majority Joint List.

The survey was conducted today by the iPanel and Mano Geva. It queried 507 Israelis and has a 4.4% margin of error.