If elections would be held today, Netanyahu's Likud party would rise from 19 seats to 27, poll finds.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barack Obama, March 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Following a week in which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of genocide and US President Barack Obama’s administration condemned Israel for building in its capital, a poll broadcast on Thursday found both men unpopular among Israelis.Only 27 percent of Israelis consider Abbas a worthy partner for peace talks, a Panels poll broadcast on the Knesset Channel found. Sixty-three percent said he was not a worthy partner.Asked whether they trusted Obama to manage US policy in the Middle East, 74% said no and 21% said yes.Only 25% said they would characterize the American president as a “true friend of Israel.” Sixty-two percent said they would not.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fared considerably better in the poll. It found that if an election were held today, his Likud party would rise from 19 Knesset seats to 27.Bayit Yehudi would be the second-largest party with 18 seats, followed by Labor with 16, Yesh Atid with 10, Yisrael Beytenu and Meretz tied at nine each, United Torah Judaism with eight, Shas with seven, Hatnua with four, Hadash five, United Arab List four, and Balad three.The party former welfare minister Moshe Kahlon is forming was not included in the poll.The right-wing bloc would rise from the current Knesset’s 61 seats to 69, the poll found. The Left would fall from its current 59 to 51.
