Most Israelis unhappy with PM’s performance as defense minister, survey finds
After week of terror attacks in West Bank, 58% say they are displeased with Netanyahu so far
Raoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
One month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau named himself as defense minister, a majority of Israelis are unhappy with his performance as the head of Israel’s military establishment, according to a poll released Sunday that comes after a week of terror attacks in the West Bank.
In the new Hadashot TV news poll conducted by the Midgam polling agency, a total of 58 percent said they were either “unsatisfied” or “very unhappy” with the prime minister’s performance.
According to the poll of 533 respondents (with a maximum sampling error of 4.3%), just 7% of respondents said they were “very happy” with Netanyahu as defense minister while a further 26% said they were “satisfied.” Conversely, 25% said they were “unsatisfied” and 33% said they were “very unhappy.”
Netanyahu took on the defense portfolio last month following Avigdor Liberman’s resignation over Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas, asserting that the country was in the midst of a military campaign which he claimed he was the only person capable of leading the country through.
But Netanyahu has since faced criticism from the right over the Gaza agreement as well as over his response to a recent spike in West Bank violence.
Earlier Sunday he said he had issued a warning to Hamas after recent deadly attacks in the West Bank, including two shootings claimed by the Gaza-based terrorist group.
Netanyahu referred to a controversial Gaza ceasefire in November that ended the worst escalation between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war.
“I conveyed a clear message to Hamas — we won’t accept a situation of a truce in Gaza and terror in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
“We will exact a high price for them,” he said of the attacks.
Hamas, an Islamist terror group that seeks to destroy Israel, runs the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s comments came after two soldiers were shot dead at a bus stop outside the outpost of Givat Assaf, in the central West Bank.
On the same day, a baby prematurely delivered after his mother was shot and wounded in a separate attack outside the nearby settlement of Ofra on December 9, also died.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the Ofra shooting, and another in the West Bank industrial complex of Barkan on October 7 that killed two Israelis.
The two Palestinians behind those attacks were shot dead by Israeli forces during arrest raids last week, officials said.
The IDF says it has arrested at least 37 Hamas operatives in connection with recent violence in raids across the West Bank.
The spate of terror attacks followed a deal to restore relative calm to the Gaza Strip that included Israel allowing Qatar to send fuel and tens of millions of dollars to the besieged territory for salaries.
On Sunday, hundreds of right-wing activists outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem called on the government to increase security measures as well as settlement construction.
Participating in the protest were nine government ministers, including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the nationalist Jewish Home party.
A ministerial committee headed by Shaked later gave initial approval to a bill that would help legalize settlement homes built on state land without approval.
“The terrorists will know that we’re here to stay,” she said following the vote. “We won’t be deterred by attacks.”
Right-wing Israelis often call for increased settlement construction and approvals following Palestinian terror attacks.
After Sunday’s demonstration, the ruling Likud party slammed Bennett for protesting the government he is a member of.
Jewish Home hit back, releasing its own statement saying that “Netanyahu is paralyzed by a fear of jurists and the attorney general. The enemy recognizes this and has therefore ceased to be afraid.” The comments follow recent arguments by Bennett that the army has become too concerned with the legalities of war to fight effectively. At the Sunday morning rally, Bennett claimed that a consequence of that concern was Netanyahu’s failure to destroy the homes of terrorists immediately after attacks are committed.
Sunday’s poll also showed that a potential political union between former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid could emerge as a serious challenger to the ruling Likud party.
According to the poll, Netanyahu would maintain a strong lead over his political rivals if elections were held today between the current parties in the Knesset plus Gantz’s still hypothetical electoral list. But while Gantz, who helmed the Israel Defense Forces from 2011 to 2015 and was seen as a moderating figure, extends his trend of growing support running alone, if he were to run on a joint ticket with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, the two could start to close in on Likud’s lead.
If the two were to run together, the poll showed, they would win a collective 26 seats, nipping at the heels of Likud’s 29.
