Is this the image of Bibi Netanyahu’s economic policies going up in flames?
Netanyahu’s popularity has plummeted to its lowest point during his tenure as prime minister with a favorability rating of 31% compared to 60% who disapprove. His lowest previous poll had shown 54% approval and he’d never dropped below the 50% mark.
Despite Bibi’s reputation as an economic whiz including his past tenure as finance minister, during which he dismantled Israel’s social welfare economy, this poll proves that it is precisely these policies that are his undoing. There are two primary reasons for his precipitous decline. The first is his disgraceful “cave” in the face of Haredi pressure on the Tal law, which would eliminate the IDF exemption for Orthodox men who study in approved yeshivot. After standing firm for a time, he eventually put forward a compromise that would give the ultra-Orthodox years before the exemption would be eliminated. In protest, Shaul Mofaz withdrew Kadima from the ruling coalition. Though this move virtually torpedoed Mofaz’ career and reputation, it also hurt Bibi as well.
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