Poll: Most of public does not believe Netanyahu over budget

The public is mistrustful of the government's handling of the budget, believes that Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz is fit to serve in his post, and does not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that he did not know of the severe budget cuts before they were announced to the media.

These were the findings of a new poll which gave the government a failing grade (2.1 out of 5) over its formulation of the budget.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Maagar Mochot research institution, asked a pool of 504 respondents, and its margin of error is 4.5 percent.

The public's dissatisfaction with the government extends to various constituencies and is not limited to party affiliation. Labor Party voters gave the government a grade of 2 out of 5, while Yisrael Beiteinu voters were more severe in their assessments, handing the government a grade of 1.7. Likud voters gave the government a grade of 2.6, which is still considered low given that the party rules the coalition.

When asked who is mostly responsible for the austere budget cuts, most respondents ? 44 percent ? said it is Netanyahu who should shoulder the blame. Just 22 percent said Treasury officials should bear the brunt of the criticism, while just 7 percent laid the blame at the feet of Steinitz.

When asked if they believed Netanyahu's claim that he did not know of the budget cuts that were proposed, 41 percent replied in the negative while 12 percent said they doubt his credibility. Of Kadima voters, 53 percent said they did not believe Netanyahu, while 48 percent of Labor voters said the same.

Netanyahu can take comfort in the fact that a relatively large chunk of Likud voters ? 35 percent ? said they believe him while 21 percent replied that they did not.