Majority of Jewish Israelis believe Gantz should remain in government - poll

Amid increasing protests demanding to hold a national election, a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute found on Sunday that a majority of Israelis prefer Minister-without-portfolio MK Benny Gantz’s National Unity party to remain in the government.

The poll found, however, that while a significant majority of Jewish Israelis (62%) said that National Unity should remain versus 23% who said it should leave, just 22% of Arab Israelis thought that the party should remain, with 55% saying it should leave the government. The remainder of both groups said they “did not know.”

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will still enjoy a majority in Israel’s parliament if National Unity leaves the government, the party’s exit is widely viewed as a trigger that will lead to protests and increasing calls for the country to head to an election.

Therefore, as can be expected, a majority of voters for all the parties that make up the coalition said they believe National Unity should stay put, with 75% of the party’s voters agreeing. A majority of opposition party Yisrael Beytenu’s voters (57%) also said that Gantz should stay put. Yisrael Beytenu has only recently begun to call for an election, and for the first months of the war party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman cautioned against it.

Voters for other parties want Gantz to leave government

However, voters for other parties in the opposition said that Gantz should leave the government: 44% of the centrist Yesh Atid Party’s voters said this, versus 42.5% who believe Gantz should stay put. For Labor Party voters, the numbers were further skewed towards leaving (46%, versus 37%, who said Gantz should remain); and of voters who said they would vote for Meretz, 81% said that National Unity should leave, with just 12% saying it should remain.

The poll, which was the 12th by the IDI’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research since the war against Hamas broke out on October 7, also asked about other issues that are on the public agenda: the exemption for haredi and Arab men from serving in the IDF; the US’s support for Israel and Israel’ standing in the world; Israel’s policy towards Muslim visitation rights to the Temple Mount during the month of Ramadan; and more.

On haredi conscription, among Jewish respondents, a majority (70%) thought that changes should be made to the exemption given to Haredim. However, Jewish respondents were split on the question of Israeli Arab public service – 42% said they believed that the current exemption should be changed, while 41% said it should not. Among Israeli Arabs, just 28% said that their exemption should be changed, versus 53% who said that it should not. Interestingly, among haredi respondents, 19% said that their exemption should be changed (versus 68.5%, who, predictably, said it should not).

On Israel’s standing in the international arena, 44% of Jewish Israelis thought it was “not good” or “not good at all”, versus 33% who said it was “so-so” and just 22% saying it was “good” or “very good.” Among Arab Israelis, 63% said that Israel’s standing was either not good or not good at all, versus just 17% saying it was so-so and 17% saying it was good or very good.

The poll also asked, “Against the backdrop of the disagreements between the Israeli government and the US administration over a political agreement and the continuation of the fighting in Gaza, to what extent is it currently possible to rely on continued massive American support for Israel?” Just 15% of all respondents answered “fully,” 24% said “to a large extent,” 34% said “so-so,” 11% said “to a small extent,” and 9% said “not at all.”

The question regarding Ramadan was asked as follows, “The month of Ramadan is about to begin. Against the backdrop of the current security situation, do you think that the special restrictions the government of Israel has imposed on the entry of Arab citizens of Israel to the Temple Mount compound will (a) increase the likelihood of acts of violence and attacks occurring during Ramadan; (b) not affect the likelihood of acts of violence and attacks occurring during Ramadan; or (c) reduce the likelihood of acts of violence and attacks occurring during Ramadan?”

Among Jewish respondents, 45% said they believed such a step would increase the likelihood of violence, 17% said it would not have an effect, and 22% said it would reduce violence. Among Arab respondents, 69% said that such a move would increase the likelihood of violence, with 11% saying that it would have no effect, and 9% saying it would reduce the likelihood of violence.

The survey was conducted via the Internet and by telephone between February 28 and March 4, with 600 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 150 in Arabic.