Chief of Staff Dan Halutz
Photo: Gil Yochanan
52 percent of Israelis: IDF failed
Survey: 58 percent believe Israel only achieved small part of objectives, if at all; Kadima, Labor would crash were elections held today, poll shows
A Globes-Smith survey published on Monday showed that the majority of Israelis (52 percent) believe the IDF was unsuccessful in its Lebanon offensive,
as opposed to 44 percent who believe the army did well.
According to the survey, 58 percent of the public believes Israel achieved few if any objectives in the war, up from 16 percent 11 days ago.
The survey showed that only 3 percent of Israelis believe that the country achieved most or all of its pre-war objectives, down from 33 percent a week ago.
According to the survey, were the elections held today Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party would receive less than 20 mandates (as opposed to the 29 it received in the March elections), while Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s Labor party would receive only 12 mandates (as opposed to the 19 it obtained in the recent elections).
66 percent: Ceasefire agreement not good
Overall, 60 percent of those who voted for Kadima and Labor said they would not vote for them, with most becoming undecided voters at this time.
The picture emerging from the new survey is fundamentally different from the one prevalent during the month of the war in the North, where the public expressed its support for both the government and military – positions that can be characterized as "patriotic."
About half the public believes the ceasefire would be maintained for longer than a month, while 35 percent think it would only last a week.
Only six percent of respondents said they thought the Security Council resolution that ended the fighting is good and achieves most of Israel's objections. Meanwhile, 66 percent believe the agreement is not good – only a quarter of those said this is the best agreement that can be obtained under the circumstances. Overall, 38 percent said the deal is not good but Israel had no choice but to accept it.
