Poll: 61% of Israelis fear for democracy, 66% say internal rift is greatest threat
Large majority continues to favor ending Gaza war to secure hostages’ release, 54% think politics are reason for continued fighting, Channel 12 survey finds
Sixty-one percent of Israelis fear for the country’s democracy, according to a poll published Friday, which showed widespread skepticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reasons for continuing the war in Gaza and firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Another 34% of respondents to the Channel 12 poll said Israeli democracy was not at risk, while 5% said they don’t know.
Asked what the greatest threat to Israel is, 66% of respondents to the survey said it is the country’s internal rift in society, while 28% said it was security threats, and 6% said they didn’t know.
Consistent with the network’s recent polling, a large majority, 68%, supported signing a hostage deal with Hamas even if it meant ending the war against the terror group, while just 22% supported continued fighting in Gaza and 10% said they didn’t know.
Israel renewed hostilities in the Strip on March 18, some two weeks after the 42-day first phase of a truce-hostage deal expired amid Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second phase, insisting on an extension of the first.
Netanyahu’s right-wing flank had threatened to topple the government if Israel proceeded to the second phase, which would have required a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza.
Asked by Channel 12 why they thought the war was still going on, 54% said it was for political reasons, 40% said it was for security-related reasons and 6% said they didn’t know.
Amid Netanyahu’s controversial bid to oust Shin Bet chief Bar, 45% of respondents said they had more faith in Bar, 34% said they had more faith in Netanyahu, and 21% said they didn’t know.
The premier announced last month that he would seek Bar’s ouster, citing a lack of confidence in the spy chief over the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the Gaza war.
The move to fire Bar has faced legal difficulties due to Netanyahu’s conflict of interest stemming from the Shin Bet probe against top aides to the premier, who are accused of criminal ties to Hamas-backer Qatar. Opposition leaders have also accused Netanyahu of seeking to offload responsibility for the Hamas onslaught.
On Monday, Bar said in a legal affidavit that Netanyahu had pressured him to wield Shin Bet tools against activists opposed to the government’s judicial overhaul. Bar told the High Court of Justice that he had been fired due to expectations from Netanyahu that he be personally loyal to the premier, and said it was made clear to him that he needed to obey Netanyahu and not the Supreme Court in the event of a constitutional crisis.
With tensions between the government and its critics at a fever pitch, Channel 12 asked respondents if they thought the state ceremony marking Israel’s 77th Independence Day on Thursday would be a political or non-partisan affair. Forty-one percent said it would be political, 34% said non-partisan and 25% said they didn’t know.
The survey was conducted by the Midgam and iPanel polling firms. The network did not provide a sample size or margin of error.
The Times of Israel Community.