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Photo: Reuters
New poll finds majority of Arab-Israelis find Livni most qualified to be next prime minister.
Photo: Reuters

Arab and Jewish Israelis split on who should compile next government

New poll by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University finds that majority of Jewish-Israelis believe right-wing government will compile government while Arab-Israelis believe left-wing will take over control.

The majority of Israeli-Jews would prefer to see a right-wing coalition form the next government while Arab-Israelis would rather see a left-leaning coalition, a new poll released earlier this week found

 

 

The Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University have released their monthly peace index poll on Wednesday which this month surveyed Israelis on their intention to vote and priorities when casting their ballots, who is more likely to form the next government and who would they prefer do so, where the political parties are on the map, and the peace process.

 

Arab-Israelis say they believe, and prefer, a left-leaning government will takeover in the next elections. (Photo: EPA)
Arab-Israelis say they believe, and prefer, a left-leaning government will takeover in the next elections.

 

According to the study, 55% of Jewish-Israelis would prefer the government be formed by the right-wing bloc while 33% would prefer the center-left. In the Arab sector, 63% of Arab Israelis would prefer the government be formed by the center-left bloc while 16% of Arab-Israelis would prefer the next government be established by the right-wing bloc.

 

The poll also unveiled that 59% of Israelis think that the peace process will remain stalled no matter the makeup or policies of next government. Furthermore, about half of the Israeli-Arab population did not know whether to describe non-Arab parties as right or left leaning when asked to place parties on a political spectrum.

 

The study found that 90% of Jewish-Israelis and 62% of Arab-Israelis are either certain or think they will vote in the upcoming elections while only 7% of Israelis reported that they were not planning on voting. On the other hand, 36% of the Arab-Israeli sector said they would not show up at voting booths come election day.

 

When the study further looked into the reasoning behind the approaches of those who said they are uncertain whether they will vote, they found that 37% of Jewish-Israelis believe it makes no difference who one votes for because nothing changes, 11% said they will not be in Israel on election day, and 6% said it was too difficult to get to polling sites.

 

Meanwhile, 59% of Israelis have already decided which party they will vote for compared to 39% who still remain undecided.

 

Among those who think or are certain they will not vote, 26% of Arab-Israelis said it makes no difference who one votes for because nothing changes and 23% said there is no party whose positions match their opinions. Furthermore, 6% said it would be hard to get to the polling sites and 3% said they would not be in Israel on election day.

 

When determining which party to vote for, 40% of Israelis (41% Jewish citizens and 36% of Arab-Israelis) stated that a party’s stance on socioeconomic issues will determine which party they will vote for in the upcoming elections. On the other hand, 32% of Israelis (33% of Jewish-Israelis and 29% of Arab-Israelis) said they would likely vote on a party’s foreign policy and security stance and 17% of Israelis (18% Jewish and 12% Arab) will vote based on both issues equally.

 

The majority of Jewish-Israelis believe, and prefer, a right-wing government will prevail.
The majority of Jewish-Israelis believe, and prefer, a right-wing government will prevail.

 

According to the study, the majority of Israelis described the Bayit Yehudi and the Likud as right-wing political parties. About half of Israelis categorized HaAm Itanu (headed by Eli Yishai) and Yisrael Beytenu (headed by Avigdor Lieberman) as right-wing.

 

On the other hand, 41% of Israelis considered Shas a right-wing political party and 23% considered it a center party.

 

Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party was considered a center party by 31% of Israelis, a right-wing party by 22% of Israelis and a left-leaning party by 5% of Israelis. About a quarter of the Israelis polled said the political nature of the party was unclear.

 

Meanwhile, 47% of Israeli categorized Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party as a center-leaning party and about half of the people polled said the newly united Labor-Hatnua party was left-leaning.

 

Meretz’s left-leaning nature was confirmed with 72% of respondents categorizing the party as a leftist faction.

 

A plurality of the Jewish-Israelis polled said Netanyahu was the best suited to be Israel’s next prime minister (34%), followed by Herzog (17.7%), Bennett (10.5%), Livni (6.3%), Lieberman (5.3%), Kahlon (4.2%) and Lapid (2.6%).

 

In the Arab-Israeli sector, Livni was considered best qualified for the role of prime minister (10.5%) followed by Herzog (10.1%), Netanyahu (8.9%), Kahlon (4.9%), Bennett (3.3%), Lapid (2.6%) and Lieberman (2.5%). Some 57% of the Arab-Israeli public either did not know or declined to answer.

 

On the issue of Palestinian unilateral moves to recognize Palestine – 70% of Jewish-Israelis and 34% of Arab-Israelis said that the recognition of a Palestinian state before a peace agreement would damage Israel’s national interest. On the other hand, 13% of Jewish-Israelis and 23% of Arab-Israelis do not believe such recognition would affect Israel’s interests. A small minority of Jewish-Israelis (10%) and 20% of Arab-Israelis said they believed recognizing a Palestinian state would advance Israel’s interests.

 

Regarding the issue of East Jerusalem – 56% of Jewish-Israelis believe that Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem could not be transferred to Palestinian control in a framework of permanent peace settlement under US sponsorship and appropriate security arrangement. Meanwhile, 38% of Israelis do believe that the Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem could be transferred as part of a peace deal.

 

Some 44% of the Arab-Israelis polled said that the neighborhoods could be transferred and 41% said they could not – showing an almost even split on the issue within the Arab-Israeli community.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.09.15, 00:03
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