Poll: 71 percent say use greater force in Lebanon
Dahaf survey finds that public continues to support continued fighting in north. 48 percent think Israel should fight until Hizbullah crushed – a 10 percent drop since last week
Public back the government, but less: According to a survey of the Israeli public, 82 percent believe the army’s offensive in Lebanon is justified, and 71 percent think Israel should use even greater force.
The survey, published in Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth Friday, was carried out by the Dahaf Polling Institute and led by Dr. Mina Tzemach.
The poll revealed that 48 percent of Israelis think the country should continue fighting until Hizbullah is destroyed – indicating a 10 percent drop since a previous survey ten days ago. Thirty percent believe Israel should continue fighting until Hizbullah is distanced from the border, and 21 percent said fighting should be stopped and negotiations launched – a four percent increase since the prior poll.
According to the poll, which questioned 513 Israeli adults Thursday, most are satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, but satisfaction rates have dropped slightly since the outbreak of the war.
In the current poll, 71 percent answered that they were pleased with Olmert’s performance, compare to 78 percent ten days ago. Regarding the fighting in the north, 29 percent defined his performance as “very good,” 45 percent said it was “good,” and 10 percent defined it as “very bad.”
The defense minister also won the public’s backing: 64 percent expressed satisfaction with his performance in the war, although 15 percent defined it as “very bad.”
Eighty percent of those questioned said they were pleased with the IDF’s operations in the war.
As for extensive reserves call-up, 65 percent said they agreed with the initiative: 38 percent said they wholeheartedly agreed, 27 percent said they were inclined to agree, 11 percent said they were inclined to oppose a large-scale draft and a full 20 percent said they wholeheartedly opposed it.
