The public is skeptical that a government will be formed by the December 11 deadline to prevent the third election in less than a year, according to an Israel Democracy Institute study released over the weekend. The poll found that 84% of the public finds the chance of forming a government to be either moderately low or very low. Only 8.4% believe that the chances are high while 7.7% said they did not know or declined to answer. When asked who is to blame for no government being formed over the past two months, 43.3% of the general public blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 37.6% blamed Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman and 7.3% blamed Blue and White head Benny Gantz, while 11.8% either said they did not know or refused to answer. Arabs were more likely to blame Netanyahu, and Jews were more likely to blame Liberman. Asked how they felt about the state of democratic governance in Israel in the foreseeable future, only 5.5% of the public were very optimistic, 26.1% were moderately optimistic, 37.6% were moderately pessimistic, 23.5% were very pessimistic and 7.3% said they did not know or refused to answer. Regarding whether Netanyahu was right when he said following his indictment that the attorney-general’s decision and the legal process against him was “tainted,” 20.8% of the public said they were sure the prime minister was correct, 15.7% said they think Netanyahu was right, 17.9% said they did not think Netanyahu was right, 33.9% said they were sure he was not right and 11.7% said they did not know or refused to answer. Netanyahu should resign and stand trial like any other citizen, 34.8% of the general public said. Only 17.2% said he should continue to serve as prime minister during his trial. Some 15% said that he should be granted immunity from standing trial as long as he serves, 16.3% said he should leave his post temporarily, 7.8% said he should sign a plea agreement and 8.9% said they did not know or refused to answer.
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