Israelis are more than ready to see the political logjam come to its end and nearly half support forming a national unity government, an Israel Hayom poll has found.
The survey concluded that 40% of Israelis support a national unity government comprising Likud, Blue and White and Yisrael Beytenu, 28% of the public back a narrow right-wing government and 17% want to see a narrow left-wing coalition installed. Fifteen percent of respondents said they were undecided.
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Support for a national unity government was particularly high among Yisrael Beytenu voters (81%) and Blue and White supporters (68%).
Right-wing and ultra-Orthodox voters, however, are less enthused: Only 38% of Likud voters said they support a unity government, while 53% preferred a right-wing government. Some 75% of United Torah Judaism voters and 73% of Shas voters also said they prefer a right-wing government.
The poll further found that were the elections held now the center-left bloc would win 58 Knesset seats – 45 sans the Joint Arab List - besting the right-haredi bloc's 53 mandates.
In this scenario, Yisrael Beytenu retained its power with nine seats.
The data further indicated a decline in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public status versus Blue and White leader Benny Gantz: Asked who they would vote for if they could vote for a prime minister directly, 41% said they would vote for Gantz and 43% named Netanyahu, but 16% said they were undecided.
Gantz enjoys vast support among Joint Arab List supporters as 56% said they would vote for him. None would vote for Netanyahu, the poll said.
Perhaps the most troubling figure concerning the possibility of a third general election concern the continued erosion of political participation.
Some 74% of Blue and White supporters, 83% of Labor-Gesher supporters and 83% of Democratic Union voters said they would definitely vote in a third election, compared to 67% of Likud voters, 71% of Yamina supporters, and 68% of Shas voters. In comparison, 86% of United Torah Judaism voters will go to the polls, the data shows.
In the Arab sector, only 52% said they would vote should a third election is called in the span of one year.
The poll also delved into the public's confidence in the systems of government, and the results are unflattering.
Only 22% of respondents expressed high confidence in the Israel Police; 28% said the same about the Attorney General's Office; 38% said they had absolute faith in the judiciary and 44% said the same of the High Court of Justice.
But only 20% of respondents expressed high confidence in the media and half – 10% - said the same of the political system.
Moreover, 54% said that over the past year their confidence in the various government institutions has diminished, and only 2% indicated an increase. There was no change among 34% of respondents.
The poll was commissioned by Israel Hayom and conducted by the Maagar Mochot polling institute among 502 respondents comprising a representative sample of Israelis 18 and over. The statistical margin of error is 4.4 percentage points.
