Most Israelis support imposing restrictions on those who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, a poll published Sunday by Tel Aviv-based 103FM Radio showed.
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The data found that 61% of the public thinks Israelis who have not been vaccinated should be banned from certain aspects of public life, while 39% opposed such a move.
Those who supported the move also favored a statement French President Emmanuel Macron made last week, saying that he plans to make the lives of the unvaccinated "difficult."
"I really want to piss them off, and we'll carry on doing this - to the end," he told Le Parisien newspaper, earning severe public backlash.
The radio station said that support for limiting the participation of unvaccinated Israelis in public life grew the older and more educated respondents were.
Some 70% of Israelis over 60 supported partially banning the unvaccinated from public life, compared to 42% of Israelis ages 29 or younger, 50% of Israelis ages 30-44, and 62% of Israelis ages 45-59.
About two-thirds of Israelis with an academic degree supported such restrictions as well, compared to 58% of Israelis with secondary education and 41% with high school education.
Some 68% of respondents whose household income is above average also supported the move, compared to 52% among those with an average household income, and 46% of those whose income was below the national average.
The Health Ministry said Sunday that 17,521 new COVID diagnoses were made over the weekend. There are currently 115,000 active coronavirus cases, and 523 Israelis have been hospitalized over complications from the disease.
Health Ministry Director-General and former coronavirus commissioner Professor Nachman Ash told 103FM Radio he was not sure banning the unvaccinated from public life was the right course of action.
"I'm not sure it helps. I think it produces resistance and won't really prompt people to get vaccinated," he said.
However, Ash did not rule out the move altogether, saying, "There's no doubt that if we're left with no other choice we will have to take steps to get more people vaccinated." He did not elaborate further.
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