Israelites of all political walks have rallied behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent weeks, boosting the Jewish nation leader to an 82 percent popularity rate — twice that of what U.S. President Obama touts.
A full 82 percent of Israelis “are satisfied with Netanyahu’s performance during [the Gaza] crisis,” the Jerusalem Post reported. By contrast, the most recent Gallup poll numbers put Mr. Obama’s approval rating with U.S. voters at 40 percent, Breitbart said.
The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon put out a Twitter message: “Israel firmly behind Netanyahu. Channel 2 poll: 82% are satisfied with Netanyahu’s performance during crisis, 10% not. (Last week 57%-35%).”
The poll numbers come as the trade of rocket fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rounded the corner on its third week.
Mr. Keinon explained in a tweet that some of Mr. Netanyahu’s popularity came directly from his response to the Hamas assaults, and that both liberals and conservatives were finding in his favor on that score.
Specifically, he said that fully 87 percent, regardless of political party, don’t want the artillery attacks into Gaza to wrap until all the Hamas tunnels are discovered and destroyed — and another 87 percent don’t want the Israeli military to stand down until Hamas is completely toppled.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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