2/3 of Israelis support deal to release hostages in exchange for cease-fire: Poll

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Some two-thirds of Israelis, or 67%, support a new deal to release Israeli hostages from Gaza in exchange for a cease-fire in the strip, says a new public opinion poll.

Only 22% of Israelis opposed a deal to return the hostages in exchange for a cease-fire, while 11% had no view, said the results of the poll, published by Israeli daily Maariv on Friday.

The Lazar Institute poll, done on a random sample of 502 Israelis with an estimated error rate of 4.3%, also said that 73% of Israeli agree to a cease-fire only after a deal has been reached, and only 11% agree to a cease-fire while negotiating.

The poll also showed that 67% of Israelis support Israel “continuing with the current cease-fire framework in exchange for the daily release of hostages,” while 22% oppose this.

Only 33% of Israelis believe that controversial Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is most suitable for his job, compared to 46% who believe that former Defense Minister Benny Gantz is better suited.

Despite media reports saying that under Netanyahu, Israel ignored warnings of a Hamas attack, and other reported scandals, the results showed an improvement in Netanyahu's standing after polls in recent weeks found that only 27% believe Netanyahu is suitable to be premier.

But the poll also found that if Israeli elections were held today, Gantz’s National Unity party would win 38 seats, versus only 18 for Netanyahu’s Likud in the 120-seat Knesset or parliament.

Based on the poll, if elections were held now, Netanyahu’s coalition would win only 45 seats, with opposition parties getting 70.

Netanyahu is currently under fire domestically for his government's failure to predict the Palestinian Hamas movement's Oct. 7 attacks, as well as his handling of the Israeli hostage crisis.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing at least 20,057 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 53,320 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi