ISRAELI GOVERNMENT'S PRECIPITOUS FALL IN POPULARITY FOR MISHANDLING THE WAR - From 82% approval to 38% in only seven weeks - EVACUATION of Israelis living near the Gaza border

Israel Matzav reports:

 

No, it's not Barack Hussein Obama whose popularity dropped from 82% to 38% in seven weeks.  It's Binyamin Netanyahu whose popularity has dropped... because the war is still going and Israel has not decisively defeated Hamas.

 

PM Netanyahu (photo Flash90)

A new poll released by the Hebrew-language Channel 2 news site on Monday reveals that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's approval rating has fallen as a "casualty" in the faltering Operation Protective Edge.

 

The poll, conducted by Shiluv Millward Brown and iPanel for the news source, found in the last four days Netanyahu's support has taken a sharp nose-dive.

 

A mere 38% of Israelis responded that they are satisfied with Netanyahu, as opposed to 50% who are dissatisfied. Just four days earlier, Netanyahu's support stood at 55%.

 

The sudden dive corresponds to a period during which four-year-old Daniel Tragerman hy''d was murdered by mortar fire in his Kibbutz Nahal Oz home last Friday, possibly contributing to a feeling of government neglect in providing security to its citizens.

 

(Indeed, it turns out that the government knew where the mortars that eventually hit the child were coming from but chose not to destroy the barrels for fear of injuring Gazns - Read more here - Blogger)

 

The poll adds that three weeks ago Netanyahu's support was at 63%; towards the beginning of the operation early last month when the IDF began its ground entry to Gaza that it later withdrew, that support was at a whopping 82%.

 

A University of Haifa poll late last month likewise found that Netanyahu's support had spiked at the start of the operation, showing that 65% were "very satisfied" with Netanyahu's handling of the operation, 20% were "satisfied" and only 10% "not satisfied."

 

However, that support has dipped as Netanyahu continues to be unable to take decisive action against Hamas in an operation that started July 8, while making numerous ceasefire agreements that Hamas repeatedly breaks, and "softening" ministers to Israeli concessions.

 

Ironically, US President Barack Obama told the New York Times earlier this month in an interview that Netanyahu had too much public support, and that he needed internal pressure - not to defend Israel, but rather to make land concessions to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

 

If Netanyahu wants to stay in office, he has to stop listening to Obama and finish the job. And if Obama doesn't want to find himself sitting in the oval office next to Naftali Bennett or Avigdor Lieberman, he is going to have to bite his lip and let Netanyahu finish the job.

 

The Israeli public is furious and is not in the mood to make any concessions to the 'Palestinians,' to Hamas or to anyone else.  And the longer this goes on, the less likely that they will favor any concessions to the 'Palestinians' in Judea and Samaria either. Everyone in this country knows that the IDF is capable of finishing the job - if only they were allowed to finish it.

 

Source - http://israelmatzav.blogspot.co.il/2014/08/his-popularity-dropped-from-82-to-38-in.html#links

 

 

RELATED

 

GAZA BELT ISRAELI COMMUNITIES 'RELOCATING'

 

Friday's murder of Daniel Tragerman HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) of Kibbutz Nachal Oz was a watershed event for the Jewish communities of the Gaza envelope. According to Haaretz some 70% of their residents have now fled to safer places.

In contrast to policies in place from the start of Operation Protective Edge until now, Friday’s fatal attack set the Defense Ministry’s National Authority for Emergency Management looking for solutions for families wishing to evacuate the area.

 

Over the last three days, some 400 families have requested assistance in finding arrangements far away from the border. In contrast to earlier stages of the fighting, such families no longer have to depend on non-governmental agencies or private donations. The state is now committed to financing their stay away from areas at risk.  

All sides are careful to note that this does not constitute an evacuation. “This isn’t 1948,” clarified an employee at one local authority. “Don’t label it an evacuation. These are arrangements for living away from home,” said another employee. “We’re not evacuating any community.”

 

However, semantics cannot hide the fact that most residents living in high-risk areas chose to leave their homes again.  

“We were told not to call it an evacuation, only a breather, but we should call a spade a spade. We left the kibbutz since it’s impossible to remain there,” says Yael Stadin, community head at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.

 

Yesterday, with the assistance of the Authority for Emergency Management and the Eshkol Regional Council, most kibbutz members left, moving into a youth hostel in Jerusalem. One family, a mother and two adult daughters, decided at the last minute to stay. A few hours later, a mortar shell landed near their house and one of the daughters suffered slight head injuries.

 

The change in policy came after pressure from residents, communities and local authorities that had to fend for themselves for over a month and a half. The defense establishment emphasized that as far as the Home Front Command is concerned, there is no change in guidelines, and families have not been instructed to leave their homes. However, anyone wishing to do so gets assistance. 

           

The problem is apparently limited to communities that are close enough to be within mortar range. Iron Dome doesn't catch mortars and there are no warning sirens.

An estimated 30 percent of families remain in the Gazan border communities. In more distant communities, outside the range of mortars, some 80 percent of residents remain. 

 

The death of Daniel Tragerman caused many people to make rapid plans for leaving their homes.

 

The events of the last few days have drawn a clear distinction between communities lying within mortar range – up to two kilometers from the border – and all other settlements in the western Negev.

 

In the absence of a technological solution such as Iron Dome, the relatively simple mortar has become Hamas’ most lethal weapon against civilians. Residents living within two kilometers of the border find themselves facing a difficult choice, of either remaining at home in a dangerous environment or uprooting themselves for an unknown duration.      

      

But if Jewish communities are abandoned, Hamas will step into the vacuum, as they did when the Jewish communities of Gaza were expelled (the government doesn't like me using that word, but that's the reality) nine years ago.

There has been a lot of talk recently about Gaza developing into a 'war of attrition.' There was a war of attrition along Israel's border with Egypt 45 years ago.  That war - which lasted from 1968-69 - saw hundreds of casualties. But it was conducted along the Suez Canal. There were few civilians involved.
Given this situation, I don't understand why we're even discussing a cease fire. Hamas must be destroyed.

Source - http://israelmatzav.blogspot.co.il/2014/08/gaza-envelope-communities-relocating.html#links

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