(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A third of people in Israel want to see the country’s top two parties governing together, according to a poll by the Peace Index Project. 36 per cent of respondents want the Likud, Kadima and Labour parties to form a coalition administration.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A third of people in Israel want to see the country’s top two parties governing together, according to a poll by the Peace Index Project. 36 per cent of respondents want the Likud, Kadima and Labour parties to form a coalition administration.
Conversely, 22 per cent of respondents would prefer a Likud-led government with right-wing parties, and 16 per cent would rather have an administration with Likud, Kadima and Israel Our Home.
On the category of preferred prime minister, 37.6 per cent of respondents pick Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, while 37.5 per cent select Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.
Kadima held a leadership ballot in September 2008, to find a replacement for then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was facing corruption charges. Israeli foreign minister Livni defeated transportation minister Shaul Mofaz in a close race to become Kadima’s new leader. She was supposed to take over as Israel’s prime minister, but was unable to assemble a government. A snap election was called for Feb. 10.
Netanyahu served as prime minister from June 1996 to July 1999, and resigned from Ariel Sharon’s cabinet—where he held the finance portfolio—after opposing the "Disengagement Plan."
Results from the February ballot placed Kadima in first place with 28 seats in the Knesset, followed by Likud with 27, the far-right Israel Our Home with 15, and Labour with 13.
According to Israeli law, the president must ask the party deemed "more capable" of forming a government to do so. On Feb. 20, Israeli president Shimon Peres asked Likud leader Netanyahu to assemble a new administration.
Netanyahu accepted the request, saying, "I call on Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni and Labour party chairman Ehud Barak and I say to them, let’s unite to secure the future of the State of Israel. I ask to meet with you first to discuss with you a broad national unity government for the good of the people and the state."
Livni rejected the proposal, saying, "I will not be able to serve as a cover for a lack of direction. I want to lead Israel in a way I believe in".
A government has not yet been formed.
Polling Data
Who would you prefer as prime minister?
|
Benjamin Netanyahu |
37.6% |
|
Tzipi Livni |
37.5% |
|
Other / Not sure |
24.9% |
Which of these coalitions would you prefer?
|
Unity government with Likud, Kadima and Labour |
36% |
|
Likud-led government with right-wing parties |
22% |
|
A government with Likud, Kadima and Israel Our Home |
16% |
|
Other / Not sure |
26% |
Source: Peace Index Project / Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research / Evens Program in Mediation and Conflict Resolution of Tel Aviv University
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 600 Israeli adults, conducted from Feb. 14 to Feb. 16, 2009. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.
