Last update - 00:00 11/09/2006
Polls: Residents in north rate gov't poorly on wartime performance
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Residents of the north give very low marks to the functioning of the government during the war, but a very high grade to volunteers and emergency services, according to a series of 17 opinion polls taken in local authorities in the Jewish sector where missiles fell during the war.
Most of the communities gave their mayors a middling grade. The highest rating went to Carmiel mayor Adi Eldar and the lowest to Kiryat Shmona mayor Haim Barbivai, who was given only a 14 percent approval rate by his constituency.
The polls, taken by the Maagar Mochot research institute under the direction of professors Yitzhak Katz, Baruch Mevorach and Amir Horkin, surveyed 4,816 people in the second half of August, close to the end of the war.
In all the towns, those questioned said government ministries had functioned poorly, giving them a weighted average of 2.12 on a scale of one to five, with one being "very bad" and five being "very good."
For example, survey participants in the Haifa Bay community of Kiryat Bialik graded government services at 1.83, as did the towns of Kiryat Shmona, Rosh Pina, Hazor and Haifa. Another Haifa suburb, Kiryat Ata, gave its g overnment ministries' conduct the highest grade of any of the 17 communities polled - 2.64.
The 17 communities gave the Home Front Command a weighted average grade of 3.32 out of five.
In 14 out of 17 communities, or 76 percent of those polled, the residents gave a high mark of four or more to volunteers, donors, and public and private assistance groups, with a weighted average of 4.11.
Emergency services also received a high weighted average - 3.81. The residents of Ma'alot gave their emergency services the highest grade - 4.58 out of 5, while Safed and Kiryat Shmona residents were least satisfied with their police, fire and Magen David Adom services, giving them a grade of 3.07 and 3.25 respectively.
Social services received a weighted average grade of 3, but only in two out of the 17 communities, Rosh Pina and Ma'alot, did social services receive a high grade - 4 and 3.90 respectively. Several other communities awarded low grades to their social workers and psychologists - Haifa 2.85, Safed 2.84, Nahariya 2.93 and Tiberias 2.82.
Following Adi Eldar as the best of the 17 mayors in the view of the citizens was Shmuel Siso of Kiryat Yam, Shimon Lankri of Acre, Haim Tzuri from Kiryat Motzkin, Haim Avitan of Hadera, Avihud Raski of Rosh Pina, Zohar Oved of Tiberias, and Yona Yahav of Haifa. At the bottom of the list, above Barbivai, in descending order, were Jacky Levy of Beit Shean, Shaul Kamisa of Hazor, Rafi Wertheim of Kiryat Bialik, and Yishai Maimon of Safed.
The weighted average grade given by the residents of all 17 communities to their mayors was 3.52
The survey also asked participants their views on their city's hotline. Some 30 percent of the cities received high grades. The residents of Rosh Pina and Kiryat Motzkin were most satisfied with this service, giving it a grade of 4.16 and 3.81 respectively. However, the weighted average grade was only middling, at 3.12. The lowest grades on city hotline services were given to Safed (2.64) and Kiryat Shmona (2.00).
The data indicates that in Kiryat Shmona, where most rockets landed - 1012 - the residents were in general less satisfied by the services they received and their community's leaders. On the other hand, the hardest-hit communities gave the highest grades to their own performance - a weighted average of 4.38. The residents of Safed and Kiryat Yam evaluated themselves less highly than the general evaluation, at 3.84.