Poll: 40 percent support negotiations with Hizbullah

A month into war in Lebanon, survey of Israelis finds mood has not dropped;
90 percent still say war is justified, two-thirds support continued fighting
Tali Zinn YNET 10 August 2006
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289506,00.html

A survey published Thursday finds that both the national mood and
individuals' moods among Israel's Jewish population have not dropped
significantly since the outbreak of the war in Lebanon. However a
significant dip was seen after the battles in Bint Jbeil in which nine IDF
soldiers were killed and after a rocket that hit Kfar Giladi killed 12
reservists.

The poll was carried out by the B. I. Cohen Institute for public opinion
polls at the Tel Aviv University. Roughly 600 people were questioned in ten
telephone surveys between July 19 and August 6. The survey found that people
defined their individual moods as higher than the national mood. Among
Israeli Arabs there was a lower evaluation of individual mood, national mood
and feelings of personal security.

The survey further showed widespread agreement, among more than 90 percent
of the Jewish public, that the fighting in Lebanon is justified. Two-thirds
of the Jewish public supported the continuation of the offensive. Support
was far lower among the Arab sector. Just one-quarter of those questioned
believed the fighting was justified.

Professor Yossi Shavit, one of the leaders of the study, told Ynet that
researchers were startled by these findings. "The public is united in the
belief that the war is justified. Similar data were published at the start
of the war and two weeks into it, but we didn't think that support would
remain so high a month after the war broke out. Even those who don't support
its continuation don't disagree with the fact that the war was started in
the first place," Shavit said.

Politicians rate high

The public evaluation of the government's performance also remained high,
aside from a certain drop after the battle in Bint Jbeil.

The government enjoyed 77.3 percent support among Israeli Jews and 22
percent support among Israeli Arabs. On a personal level, Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert swept up more support than Defense Minister Amir Peretz (70
percent on average for Olmert, compared to 60 percent for Peretz). However
the degree of confidence in both figures remained stable. Support for both
Peretz and Olmert was significantly lower among Israeli Arabs, approaching
35 percent each.

Professor Shavit believed that at this stage politicians could be encouraged
by the data, but they had to be examined carefully. "In the meantime,
support continues to stand at high levels. But we did other polls since this
one, and there is an apparent drop in the public's confidence in the
leadership - not a dramatic drop, but definitely a drop. The public feels
dissatisfied with the government in general and with the prime minister on
two fronts: The first is the social front and the certain amount of neglect
of the disadvantaged sectors on the front lines; and the second is criticism
that the government on the diplomatic front and the way the war is being
carried out," Shavit said.

"It is interesting that while the evaluation of the prime minister is
dropping, that of the defense minister is remaining stable."

Confidence in IDF high

The IDF and the Homefront Command earned a great deal of confidence from the
side of the public, both Jewish and Arab. Among Israeli Jews over 75 percent
expressed their support of the Home Front Command and 87 percent supported
the IDF. Among the Arab public, 49.1 percent were confident in the army and
53.2 percent in the Home Front Command.

Professor Shavit was not surprised by these numbers. "The army in general
and the commanders in particular are more highly esteemed than the political
leadership," he noted.

About half (48.3 percent) of the Israeli public supported direct
negotiations with Hamas and one-third (37.8 percent) supported direct
negotiations with Hizbullah for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers.
Israeli Arabs were more likely to support negotiations - with 87.3 percent
backing talks with Hizbullah and 88 percent backing talks with Hamas.

"It is known that the Israeli public wants quick solutions - six days of war
and it's over. We were surprised to discover that the public has remained
strong in its support of and confidence in the IDF, even a month into the
war.

There is no evidence thus far of significant weakening of support or
confidence. People are responding to particular incidents and there are
changes in the national mood as a result, as after Bint Jbeil and Kfar
Giladi, but the trend is that support is continuous and the mood is
relatively sturdy."

(08.10.06, 21:36)