Poll: 58% of Israelis believe the country is in a ‘state of emergency’
New poll also claims 60.5% of Israelis think the newly-passed "reasonableness law", which prevents the Supreme Court from striking down government decisions, is bad for democracy.
A staggering 58% of Israelis believe the country is in a “state of emergency,” according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by Israel Democracy Institute’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, asked Israelis questions on a number of issues currently dominating the debate, including the government’s judicial reforms, police conduct and the future of the economy.
When breaking down the answers into societal categories, less than 20% of those identifying as ultra-orthodox (18,5%) and national religious (19%) agreed that Israel is in a state of emergency, compared to 78,5% among the secular.
60,5% of Israelis think the newly passed “reasonableness law”, which prevents the Supreme Court from striking down government decisions, is bad for democracy, while 35% believe the law is good for democracy.
Not surprisingly, the difference between ultra-orthodox and secular respondents was huge. 84% of the ultra-orthodox said the law was good for democracy compared to only 14% among the secular.
Overall, 68% of Israelis said the government and opposition should have reached an agreed compromise before the vote in order to tone down the “reasonableness law.”
The poll also found that 46% of Israelis oppose the formation of an emergency government headed by Netanyahu, in which the Centre parties of Yesh Atid and National Unity replaced the Religious Zionism party. 39% supported the idea.
Interestingly, an overwhelming majority (69%) of those voting for Benny Gantz’s National Unity party supported the formation of an emergency government.
When asked about which grade would Israelis would give the police for its functioning at the protest events of the last few months, 42% answered “poor/very poor.”
While the survey doesn’t give a reason for the negative attitude, police violence against demonstrators has significantly increased in recent months, with numerous documented examples of excessive use of force.
56% believe that the protest movement will grow stronger in the coming months, in light of an overall view (64,5%) that the government is planning to move ahead with its reforms when Knesset returns from summer recess.
Lastly, 64% of Israelis believe that their personal financial situation will be harmed to some degree following the warnings issued by credit rating agencies about the Israeli economy.
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