Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., October 12, 2007 , | | Israel Time: 18:54 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Print Edition Diplomacy Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel

Palestinian Authority Chairman shaking hands with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during their meeting in Jerusalem earlier this month. (Reuters) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 16:51 11/10/2007 Haaretz survey: 51% of Israelis back Olmert's talks with Abbas By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent More than half of Israelis support talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, a Haaretz survey revealed on Thursday. Some 51 perent of those questioned said they supported the talks, while 42percent said they were opposed. These figures are part of the results of the periodic Haaretz-Dialog survey, conducted by Professor Kamil Fuchs of the statistics department at Tel Aviv University. The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 502 people from the general public. As expected, support for the talks came from Kadima, Labor, Meretz and Arab-party voters. Surprisingly though, 40 percent of Yisrael Beitenu voters and 28 percent of Likud voters also favor the talks. A majority of right-wing voters were against. Advertisement The poll also found that almost one third of the population thought the investigations against Olmert in the Bank Leumi tender affair should be frozen so that he could concentrate on governing the country. When asked whether the investigations should be paused until the end of his term, 28 percent said yes while 64 percent said no. Labor Party voters were split: 47 percent on each side of the issue. Surprisingly, 54 percent of Kadima voters, Olmert's own party, were against halting the investigations. A large majority of the populace thinks that the investigations are interfering with Olmert's ability to run the country: 36 percent though he could concentrate on his work only to "a small extent," while 49 percent said that he "almost cannot concentrate on running the country" due to the investigations. Of course how you view the statistics depends on your political stance: Lapid, for example, would claim that this only strengthens his stand. Olmert's opponents would claim the opposite, explaining that if he cannot devote his full time to his responsibilities, he should not remain in the job for a even minute longer. In any case, 85 percent of the public does agree that it does not have a full-time prime minister with optimal use of his time. The periodic survey again checked the public's approval rating for Olmert's performance as prime minister; and here, to Olmert's sorrow, there has been no change: only 15 percent of those questioned expressed approval of his functioning, compared to 74 percent who were dissatisfied. This figure is identical with previous surveys. Defense Minister Ehud Barak showed a small gain, slow but steady, in his approval ratings. 33 percent approved of his job as defense minister, compared to 30 in the survey of two months ago. But Barak cannot be satisfied with this number, since his disapproval rating is rising even faster: 46 percent were dissatisfied with his performance compared to 39 percent in the previous survey. The conclusion is that the more Barak settles in, the more the public's opinion of him firms up on both sides, with the number of those dissatisfied rising twice as fast. If anything, this should provide Olmert with encouragement, since he and Barak are fighting for the same voters. Related articles: MI assessment: Mideast peace summit likely to fail PA Chair Abbas lays out first precise demands for Palestinian borders Police resume questioning of Olmert over Bank Leumi affair Bookmark to del.icio.us Mover and baker N.Y. celebrity baker Ron Ben-Israel created a two-ton cake to mark the Plaza's centennial. Show must go on The glory of making the pilgrimage to NYC and play against the Knicks has its price.   1.   Being fooled once is enough 11:14  |  Nephtaly 11/10/07   2.   Haaetz survey 11:28  |  Vickie 11/10/07   3.   Olmert Talks and Poll 12:50  |  Joshua 11/10/07   4.   51% of Israelis 12:57  |  JordanisPalestine 11/10/07   5.   If true Israel in desperate need of psychiatrists 13:15  |  Avi 11/10/07   6.   Ma nishtana ... 13:17  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 11/10/07   7.   Fiction 13:39  |  ralphsrant1 11/10/07   8.   Less than 50% of those that want Israel to exist. 13:52  |  Mike 11/10/07   9.   Interesting results 14:35  |  Mark Lincoln 11/10/07   10.   More questions than answers in Olmert- Abbas polling results. 14:41  |  H.H.M 11/10/07   11.   inconsistent reporting 15:01  |  Tareq 11/10/07   12.   Nothing Is Better Than Nothing 15:03  |  Tony Anthony 11/10/07   13.   Question never asked- SHOULD OLMERT RESIGN? 15:48  |  Menachem Ben Yakov 11/10/07   14.   51% is close to 100% 16:14  |  Mark 11/10/07   15.   50 % of supporters come from Arab sector!? 16:15  |  mike 11/10/07   16.   wake up israel 16:21  |  evan lever 11/10/07   17.   peace has a price... 16:44  |  Rami 11/10/07   18.   51% - 20% arabs = 31% 17:41  |  david 11/10/07   19.   But the silent MAJORITY makes it MORE. 20:59  |  Arik 11/10/07   20.   #2. Vickie, You obviously does not want to have PEACE, what.. 21:16  |  Brandon 11/10/07   21.   #18david. Wrong, Israeli arabs does not like the talks. 21:22  |  Israeli Arab 11/10/07   22.   51%? includes the 20% Israeli Arabs who wish Israel is DEAD ?!?!? 21:56  |  amir 11/10/07   23.   Self respecting nations don`t allow a likely criminal to be P.M. 05:42  |  Chaim 12/10/07   24.   Arab 21 16:33  |  Armen 12/10/07

Today Online U.S. grills Israel over road planned on Palestinian land Responses: 123 Danny Rubenstein: Jewish settlement in E. J'lem is incitement Responses: 25 Benjamin Weinthal: Germany's secret business ties with Iran Responses: 49 Orthodox rabbi beaten with baseball bat in New Jersey town Responses: 64 Dichter: Egypt capable of halting Gaza arms smuggling within day Responses: 68 Omer Bartov: Stop the erasure of Jewish culture in Ukraine Responses: 14 Rosner's Domain * God and the 2008 candidates * Does Ann Coulter want all Jews to become Christian? * Romney's position on attacking Iran? better ask his lawyers * WTR: The debate over Tutu More Headlines 18:22 Dichter: Egypt capable of halting Gaza arms smuggling within day 17:38 Germany denies assassins' early release was part of deal with Iran 18:54 Haniyeh, Mashal urge Abbas not to fall into 'trap' of peace summit 13:39 3 Beit El teens rescued after taken to refugee camp, robbed 11:10 U.S. grills Israel over road planned on Palestinian land 18:30 Orthodox rabbi beaten with baseball bat in New Jersey town 14:33 Report: Oxford Union invites Holocaust denier Irving to speak 08:48 Sources: Turkish official won't ask Israel about strike in Syria 05:59 Peace concert in Jericho called off over security concerns 13:37 Court charges two with manslaughter in Kfar Tavor road accident 10:11 Erekat: Mideast peace summit without Israel-PA deal is mistake 14:16 Study: Holocaust trauma affects grandchildren of survivors 08:38 State's witness: Palestinians won't employ caregivers Previous Editions Select Day 11 oct 10 oct 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 05 oct 04 oct 03 oct 02 oct 01 oct 30 sep 28 sep

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