Haaretz poll: 40% want elections, 68% say Olmert should resign
23% of respondents want Olmert to stay in office to 'fix defects'; 26% say Netanyahu should replace Olmert; 85% say Peretz should resign.
By Yossi VerterA poll taken Tuesday, 24 hours after the release of the Winograd report, shows that 40 percent of those asked favor elections, especially on the right wing.
The poll found that between 10 and 17 percent of respondents prefer that the current Knesset - only 14 months old - continue in office, and that the government be changed and headed by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice Premier Shimon Peres or Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Nine percent support the existing government in the poll, conducted by Haaretz-Dialog and directed by Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University's statistics department.
The results concerning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are particularly interesting: Sixty-eight percent want him to resign, an almost identical percentage that appeared in previous polls on this question. In this sense, the major shock of the Winograd report has not left its mark on the people.
Those who believed six months ago that Olmert should resign still think so. In the current poll, 23 percent want him to stay to "fix the defects."
Regarding Defense Minister Amir Peretz, 85 percent want him to resign and only 9 percent want him to remain in office. Peretz's situation is desperate among voters in his own Labor Party as well: 81 percent want him out. In contrast, Olmert has a relatively low percentage of opponents in his Kadima Party - 58 percent want him to resign.
Knesset seats
In the regular poll Haaretz-Dialog conducts every two months on the number of seats each party would receive if elections were held now, Kadima actually gained two seats over the 12 the previous poll gave it. Likud continues to lead, with 30 seats, and Labor has 21, with no real change for the rest of the parties.
Because the feeling in the Knesset is that Olmert will not hold his present post for long, the poll sought to check who the public believes is the most worthy candidate to replace him. On a scale of 1 to 10, those polled placed Netanyahu in the lead with 5.27, although he is the only right-wing leader presented, while respondents on the left had four candidates to choose from.
Tzipi Livni is second at 5.03, Peres has a rating of 4.91, Labor's Ami Ayalon 4.29, and Labor's Ehud Barak 3.91. However, Barak cannot become prime minister during the current Knesset's term because he is not an MK.
Respondents were also asked to choose a candidate they would like to see as prime minister. Here too, Netanyahu led with 26 percent, followed by Peres at 11 percent, Livni at 10 percent and Barak and Olmert at 6 percent each. Ayalon trailed with 5 percent.
Another interesting item: Yisrael Beiteinu voters divided their preference among Netanyahu, who took the lead, as well as Avigdor Lieberman and Arcadi Gaydamak, who received 3-percent support. The candidate by the name of "other" took in 18 percent.
When asked whom they preferred as defense minister, support for Ayalon was greater than for Barak - 50 percent to 34 percent. Among Labor voters, support for the two was almost equally divided.
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pausing before addressing supporters of his Kadima party at the Petah Tikva party headquarters in March. (AP) |
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Olmert resigning means Livni, who has less experience than Olmert and who has been very vague yet give indications of being too much like a Laborite. New elections mean Bibi, Barak or Ayalon. The first two have shown to be even worse PMs than Olmert, while the third is one of the generals responsible for the sad state of the IDF. I'd much rather keep Olmert on a tight leash and force reform in both politics and the IDF. The other options mean the establishment will blame everything on the deposed pair, sweep the real content of the Winograd Report under the rug, and proceed like their normally abysmal selves.
people want Olmert's head on a stake as well as Peretz's and the majority of this govt. I would also include the senile Peres. This writer is to blasai. Tell us when the mass protest is being held. I am preparing my Flag and my sign calling for the Olmert govt to resign.
Almost 70% of the American public don't approve of the way Bush is handling the war and country and he gets to stay until 2008. Too bad. Yet Olmert isn't half as bad as Bush or even a quarter for that matter, either. Still, he shouldn't stand in the way of progress if he can't bring it on. Dutch
.... different Circus. Amazing, the leading candidate for PM at this point - BiBi - carries only a 26% rating. I am no statistician, but I cannot see any way that he could be labelled the peoples choice. With parties, you can fool some of the people with a coalition government but you can't have a coalition PM. Or can you? The Israeli political arena has reached a new all time low.
If the Knesset votes to remove Olmert from office, can he dissolve the Knesset (British style) or does the Knesset simply elect a new government (German style) regardless of what Olmert wants?
Obviously, the consensus in Israel seems to regard the 2006 war against Lebanon as a failure. Oddly enough, the majority of the Lebanese also think that Lebanon lost that war. Only Hezbollah is claiming victory. When there are losers, there has to be winners. Did Hezbollah really win? In as much I would applaud this outcome, I really want to know. Can any one shed some light?
Choosing from the same list of old names. At least you know about how much screw up to expect from the long track records. Why don't you try someone new, willing to do something new, like say, forget all about the idea of ever living in peace with anyone who calls himself a Palestinian and kicking out any MK who admits that he considers himself a Palestinian? Is that radical enough to break the rut?
Israeli politics is a sticky matter. Only permanent citizens who actually live in the country should decide who the next leader will be. Regardless of whether the new government comes from the left or from the right I hope it will be a strong and wise leadership that will benefit all. Best of luck!
The people and Judges have passed their judgment on the current leadership. They want better leadership who can protect Israel from external threats and aggressions. They people should determine who their next government should be. It is time for new leadership.
Abbas should step up and offer to run Kadima until the elections can be held. He is the logical choice!
So we get to choose between three mediocrities- Olmert, Netanyahu and Barak. One generation away from Independence and such a wealth of leadership. We are blessed.