In honor of the new year and the swearing-in of the Netanyahu government, Israel Hayom has conducted a poll to see what Israelis think 2023 has in store for them in terms of politics.
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As many as 64% of respondents said they are looking ahead to the new year with optimism. These include right-wing voters, 80% of whom said they were optimistic, as well as left-wing voters, of whom only 45% said they were optimistic.
When asked to rate their level of happiness from 1 to 10, the average answer was 7. Here too politics played a role, with supporters of the right-win bloc – which includes Likud, ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, Ashkenazi Haredi United Torah Judaism and the Religious Zionist Party – coming in around 8, and supporters of the left-wing bloc – Yesh Atid, Labor, Meretz and the State Party – coming in around 6.5-7. As for Arab Israelis, the average answer with regard to their level of happiness stood at 6.
When asked about the political agenda for this year, the majority of respondents said that they were most affected by – and therefore most cared about – the economy, which surpassed even such major issues as defense, governance, and the expected judicial reforms. As many as 60% said their ability to make a living was affected by inflation.
Around 60% said the cost of living was the most important matter on the new government's agenda, with only 18% expressing belief that their situation will improve in 2023.
As for the composition of the incoming government – Israel's most right-wing to date – only 29% (mostly observant respondents) said they were satisfied with it, while the majority said they were discontent at the lack of diverse representation.
With regard to the stability of the coalition, only 57% of Likud voters said they expected the government to serve its full four-year term, compared to 75% of Religious Zionist Party voters and 71% of Shas voters.
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