Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s performance during his first 100 days on the job has satisfied less than half of the population, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.
But the second-time premier is still preferred over Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister, with whom he fought a close race in the February election.
Only 49% of respondents in the survey published in the Haaretz newspaper said they were satisfied with the performance of the hawkish Netanyahu, who first held the top job during the late 1990s.
The Likud premier’s Cabinet did slightly better, earning marks of 5,6 out of 10. However, the poll showed that only 37% believed the government was leading Israel in the right direction, while 40% consider it is not doing so.
In a head-to-head comparison with centrist Kadima party leader Livni, who actually won the most votes in the February poll, Netanyahu outpaced her by 52% to 34%.
Forty-five percent believe Netanyahu should fire ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
If elections were held now, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud would win 32 of the 120 parliamentary seats compared with 27 now, Kadima 29 (up from 28) and Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu 14 (down from 15), according to the poll.
The survey was conducted by the Dialog Institute among 500 Israeli adults. It has a margin of error of 4,5 percentage points. — Sapa-AFP