December 12, 2006

Abstract: - Many Israeli adults regard the current Likud leader as a head of government in waiting, according to a poll by Geocartographia released by Israel Radio. 42.4 per cent of respondents would personally prefer to have Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister in the coming years.

- Many Israeli adults regard the current Likud leader as a head of government in waiting, according to a poll by Geocartographia released by Israel Radio. 42.4 per cent of respondents would personally prefer to have Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister in the coming years.

Conversely, 17.7 per cent of respondents would choose current prime minister Ehud Olmert of the Kadima party, and 36.2 per cent would pick neither politician for the position.

In March, Israeli voters renewed the Knesset. Kadima, founded by former prime minister Ariel Sharon and led by Olmert, secured 29 seats. Labour, the Retired People's Party (Gil) and International Organization of Torah-observant Sephardic Jews (Shas) joined Kadima in a coalition. In October, the Israeli cabinet approved the addition of Israel Our Home to the government. Olmert's coalition now has the support of 78 of the Knesset's 120 members.

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."

On Dec. 7, Netanyahu discussed the future, saying, "I will be finance minister, together with another post, that of prime minister. (...) Sharon gave me full support even under difficult circumstances, and I appreciated it and continue to appreciate it. (...) Israel went through the Lebanon war with a strong shekel."

Polling Data

Who would you personally prefer as prime minister in the coming years?

Benjamin Netanyahu	42.4%
Ehud Olmert	17.7%
Neither	36.2%
Other replies	3.7%

Source: Geocartographia / Israel Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 462 Israeli adults, conducted on Dec. 5, 2006. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.