A new poll conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI)’s “Israeli Society Index” found that 60% of the public believe there is a real danger of civil war breaking out in Israel, the findings published on Thursday stated.<\/p>\n
JPPI’s poll was conducted in light of former Supreme Court chief justice Aharon Barak’s March 20th warning that \u201cwe are an instant away from a civil war,\u201d due to internal disputes.<\/p>\n
The poll found that 27% of respondents agreed with Barak, while 33% said he is exaggerating but there is still a real danger of a civil war occurring.<\/p>\n
The poll added that 16% believed there is no real danger of a civil war.<\/p>\n
A majority of all political ideologies, except the right, believed that there was a real danger of civil war, the poll found.<\/p>\n
Notably, a poll by Maariv found that 58% of Israelis feared a civil war amid the judicial reform crisis surrounding the reasonable standard law in July 2023, amid highly attended weekly nationwide protests which paused after Hamas’s October 7 massacre.<\/p>\n
Shin Bet chief and attorney-general dismissals<\/strong><\/p>\n JPPI also surveyed public attitudes towards the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempting to fire Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, and the high court’s attempts to intervene.<\/p>\n A slight majority of Israelis, at 51%, opposed the court intervening, with 40% believing that the court has no authority to intervene, while 11% believe they do have the authority but Bar’s dismissal is justified.<\/p>\n A total of 38% of Israelis polled believe that the court should cancel Bar’s dismissal.<\/p>\n Among the politically right-wing, 76% believed the court lacked authority, while 47% of center-right Israelis polled believed the same. A majority of those on the left believed that the court should cancel Bar’s dismissal.<\/p>\n However, 53% of Israelis believe that the high court should not intervene in the dismissal of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. 35% believe that the court lacks the authority to intervene, and 18% believe that even if it does have the authority, her dismissal is justified.<\/p>\n The poll also found that 35% of respondents believe that high court should cancel Baharav-Miara’s dismissal.<\/p>\n High Court rulings should be obeyed regardless<\/strong><\/p>\n A large majority of those polled found that the government must respect any high court rulings, in the event that the court cancels either Bar’s or Baharav-Miara’s dismissal.<\/p>\n The poll’s findings explained that 40% of respondents believed this because “otherwise, we\u2019ll be dragged into a constitutional crisis,” while 23% believed this because “the court is the authorized interpreter of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n However, one-in-three Israelis polled believe that the government should not comply with a high court ruling.<\/p>\n Across all ideological groups, except the right-wing, a majority of respondents believe that the government should comply.<\/p>\n Only one-third of right-wing respondents agreed, while two-thirds argued that they should not comply with a court ruling.<\/p>\n Does the ‘deep state’ exist?<\/strong><\/p>\n Right-wing Israelis, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, believe in the existence of a “deep state” where heads of the country’s public institutions use their institutional power in “the service of the left” including using “the judicial system in a distorted way to thwart the will of the people,” as Netanyahu wrote on social media.<\/p>\n Two-fifths of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is “wrong,” another two-fifths believe that he is “right,” and one-fifth believe that he “is exaggerating.” This latter group believe that there is a problem of balance between different government branches in Israel, but that does not amount to a “deep state.”<\/p>\n Political alignment also correlated with respondents’ likelihood to believe in a “deep state” with 79% of right-wing people agreeing with the prime minister, while 87% of the left, 76% of the center-left, and 61% of the center believe that Netanyahu is wrong.<\/p>\n Among Likud voters polled, 82% agreed with Netanyahu, 12% believe he is exaggerating, and 4% disagreed.<\/p>\n In total, 58% of respondents did not agree that a “deep state” exists.<\/p>\n Dr. Shuki Friedman<\/strong> commented on the poll stating that “we are on the eve of Passover, a time marked by gathering around Jewish tradition and greater unity, but the data show that Israelis fear we are dangerously sliding down a slope that could lead to even harsher internal conflict.”<\/p>\n “When the right and left are deeply divided in their interpretation of reality and the willingness of the right to obey the court decreases, this danger increases,” Friedman added.<\/p>\n “Israelis must demand that their leaders halt this deterioration and act toward reconciliation, a more moderate discourse, and express this in their actions as well,” he concluded.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sorry, this entry is only available in 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