8 Out Of 10 Israelis Justify Israel’s Strike On Syria

The public does not much like the Finance Ministry's proposed spending cuts, and most Israelis were angry with Finance Minister Yair Lapid, a poll by Israel Hayom conducted by New Wave Research and published on Friday revealed. The sentiments were echoing throughout social media forums at the start of the weekend, as peeved netizens tried to rally like-minded citizens to launch a social protest akin to the mass demonstrations that took over the country in the summer of 2011. 

And while the Finance Ministry drew public ire, the Defense Ministry was faring quite well. The same Israel Hayom poll indicated that most Israelis strongly supported the airstrikes in Damascus over the weekend, which foreign media outlets had attributed to Israel. The airstrikes helped boost public opinion of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who was sworn in to the job less than two months ago. 

The public sees the need, but disapproves of the means

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents -- 62.5 percent -- said they were opposed to the economic measures proposed by the Finance Ministry this week. Some 38.6% deemed them necessary. These data show that while many people said they believed economic measures were necessary, they also voiced disapproval over the Finance Ministry's chosen course of action. 

And this perspective caused people to be pessimistic about their financial futures: 40.6% of respondents said they believed that their financial situation would get worse following austerity, and only 16.6% said they were optimistic about their situation in two years. 

People aged 45 to 54 were the biggest detractors of the Finance Ministry's proposal -- nearly three-quarters in this cohort, 74.8% to be exact, voiced opposition to the proposed measures. Young people aged 18 to 24 were the least agitated by Lapid's plan -- almost half of respondents in that age group, 46.1% said they were opposed. 

People aged 18 to 24 were the most likely to agree with the Finance Ministry that the proposed cuts were essential in 2013 and 2014, the scope of the biennial budget. But, whereas 50.6% of young people said the cuts may have been a "necessary evil," as Lapid called them, only 26% of people aged 35 to 44 said they believed such austerity was necessary. People aged 35 to 44 were also the most pessimistic about their financial situations, with 54.2% saying there lot was likely to get worse. Only 24% of people in the age brackets of 18 to 24 and 34 to 25 were optimistic about their financial futures. 

Geography and income did not play much of a role in people's opposition to the Finance Ministry's plan, the survey indicated. Up to 70% of people in the lowest income bracket said they opposed the spending cuts.

The finance minister's image was damaged badly because of his proposal: 53.9% of respondents said their faith in Lapid has shrunk, and only 7.8% said their trust in the finance minister increased. Women found Lapid's proposal more vexing than men, with 64.5% in the 45 to 54 age bracket voicing disapproval. Those who said that their incomes were far above the national average were both the most supportive of Lapid and the most disapproving: 15.3% and 53.4%, respectively.

With regard to Syria

Last weekend, foreign media outlets reported that Israeli fighter jets bombed targets in a Damascus suburb, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 elite Syrian soldiers -- that last part according to Syrian national news. While Jerusalem has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, Israelis were resoundingly supportive of the airstrikes, according to the Israel Hayom poll. 

Nearly 80% of respondents (79.4%) said they believed that the attacks were justified, and 34.5% of respondents said their confidence in the defense minister was higher following the bombings.

Only 2.6% said that they had little confidence in Ya'alon. Men were more approving of the defense minister (43.4%) than women (25.5%). People aged 45 to 65 were also more approving (39.5%) than people aged 25 to 34 (29.4%).

And how did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fare following the hectic week? It turns out that neither the economic hullabaloo, nor the ostensible "winds of war" from Syria, had much of an effect on the prime minister's image: Only 18.3% said their faith in Netanyahu lessened, 14% said it grew, and the vast majority, 61.8%, said it was unchanged. 

Support for the prime minister increased among men (19.5%) aged 45 to 54 (17.5%) living in the South and the mostly rural communities of Judean foothills (20.2%). Disapproval of the prime minister grew among people with incomes slightly lower than the national average (26.4%), among the ultra-Orthodox (29%) and people aged 35 to 44 (29.3%). 

 http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=9213