GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- In the midst of unrest in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak continues to trail the Likud Party's Ariel Sharon in elections scheduled for February 6. The Gallup Israel poll, conducted on January 17 for the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv, shows Sharon with support from 51% of those Israelis polled, compared to 31% for Barak.
Sharon has criticized Barak's attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinian Authority, including Barak's willingness to work within the guidelines of a proposal presented by U.S. President Bill Clinton. That plan calls for Israel to turn over land now occupied by Jewish settlements, and Sharon has said that, if elected, he will not accept the proposal. Although 30% say the peace negotiations are critical, Sharon's high ratings indicate the importance of security to Israelis, 44% of whom consider it the primary issue in the election.
Barak has a highly negative image among Israelis. Fifty-seven percent of those polled say they personally dislike him, while just 36% have a positive opinion of him. By comparison, Sharon's image ratings are more evenly split, with 48% holding a favorable opinion of him and 44% an unfavorable opinion. Additionally, just 17% of Israelis say they have a positive opinion of Barak's appearances on television, compared to 30% for Sharon.
Finally, 40% of Israelis would prefer that Barak withdraw from the race and allow former Prime Minister Shimon Peres to take his place. Were that to happen, the Gallup/Ma'Ariv poll indicates the race would be much closer -- with Sharon and Peres essentially tied.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,000 Israeli adults, 18 years and older, conducted January 17, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
If the elections for Israel's PM were to be held today, and the candidates were Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon, who would you have voted for?
Ehud
Barak…………………30.7%
Ariel
Sharon………………..51.4%
If Shimon Peres were to replace Ehud Barak as a candidate, whom would you vote for?
Shimon
Peres………………44.4%
Ariel Sharon ………………
44.8%
If Binyamin Netanyahu were to replace Ariel Sharon as a candidate, who would you vote for?
Binyamin Netanyahu……...52.0%
Ehud
Barak…………………33.5%
Were Shimon Peres to announce unequivocally that he will not run for the PM position, who would you vote for?
Ehud
Barak………………….31.3%
Ariel
Sharon………………...51.7%
Which of the two do you prefer:
that Ehud Barak withdraws from the race and lets Shimon Peres
take his place as a candidate…..39.2%
or
that Ehud Barak continues to run as a candidate till the
elections…………………………………...32.7%
Of the following issues, which one is the most important to you when considering for which candidate to vote?
- The peace negotiation……..30.2%
- Israel's security…………….44.1%
- Economics andsociety…..…7.2%
- Inter-religious relations……..3.9%
- The next PM's personality…4.5%
Please tell me whether you like or dislike the following characters:
|
Like |
Dislike |
|
|
% |
% |
|
|
Ehud Barak |
36.2 |
57.3 |
|
Binyamin Netanyahu |
48.8 |
44.6 |
|
Ariel Sharon |
47.9 |
43.9 |
|
Shimon Peres |
60.2 |
34.1 |
|
Yasser Arafat |
10.2 |
85.8 |
|
Bill Clinton |
72.8 |
20.4 |
|
Dan Meridor |
42.5 |
36.6 |
|
Shaul Mufaz |
52 |
23.8 |
|
Meir Shitrit |
49.8 |
30.8 |
|
Avraham Burg |
51.6 |
30.6 |
