Lieberman. Most nationalistic politician
Gil Yohanan
Poll: 36% of Jews want to revoke Arabs' voting rights
While few Israeli Jews say they are nationalistic, many favor anti-democratic values, survey finds
Thirty-six percent of Israeli Jews are in favor of revoking the voting rights of non-Jews, Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing findings by the Dahaf polling agency, headed by Dr. Mina Tzemach.
The poll was held in the aftermath of an amendment to the Citizenship Act, approved by the government Sunday, which requires new citizens to pledge their allegiance to a "Jewish and democratic state".
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Dahaf found that just 3% of Israeli Jews support Fascism and just 10% define themselves as nationalistic, while 80% identify completely with democratic values. Two-thirds of those polled said they were alarmed by the possibility of Fascism being implemented in Israel.
But half of the religious people and 68% of the haredim polled rejected the Arab-Israelis' right to vote. Around 25% of seculars polled were of the same opinion.
The poll also found that 69% of Israeli Jews support the amendment to the Citizenship Act approved by the government.
As to other democratic values, 55% of those polled justify harming freedom of speech in times of political difficulty, and 57% oppose non-violent protests held during military operations.
But few were willing to go one step further and justify transferring power into the hands of a single strong leader, even in times of war. Only a quarter of those polled supported such a move.
However the poll found differences in this category between natural-born citizens of Israel and immigrants. Just 20% of the former population said they would back a dictatorship, while 53% of immigrants who were not raised in Israel did the same.
If the poll is seen to reveal nationalistic values, it would appear that Israeli Jews also have someone to blame. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was said by 56% to be the foremost Israeli politician who contributes to nationalistic extremism and Fascism in Israel.
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