53% of Israelis think far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to negotiate the release of hostages held in Gaza, a KAN public broadcaster news survey revealed on Tuesday, April 30. The deal proposes the liberation of about 30 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian militants and a 40-day cessation of hostilities. While 54% support the deal, a significant 26% oppose it, and 20% remain undecided.

The survey further indicates that skepticism extends beyond the hostage situation. A significant 65% of respondents doubt Netanyahu’s claim that Israel is on the verge of victory in the war in Gaza while only 17% believe the prime minister’s assertions.

In addition, opinion polls show nearly three-quarters of the Israel public want Netanyahu to resign against the backdrop of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, with half the country also preferring earlier elections for the Knesset. The KAN public broadcaster and Channel 12 both published surveys on April 8 to coincide with the six-month milestone since the war started on October 7.

Protesters block Begin Road in front of the Kirya Israeli Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv, urging a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza, April 30, 2024 (Photo: Danor Aharon / Black Flag Movement)

Both polls showed the current far-right government being ousted if elections were held immediately. Kan reported that 42 percent of respondents said Netanyahu should resign immediately, and 29% that he should step down after the war concludes, making a total of 71% seeking his ouster. Of the rest, 21% said Netanyahu doesn’t need to resign and 8% said they don’t know. 44% also said there should be elections within a few months, 22% want elections sometime over the coming year, and 26% said there should only be elections when they are next due, in October 2026. Another 8% said they don’t know. The Channel 12 poll found that 50% believe there should be early elections, 41% were against such a move, and 9% said they don’t know.

On Tuesday night, protesters blocked Begin Road and assemble outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv to demand that the Israeli government agree to a deal for the release of the hostages held in Gaza, even as Netanyahu’s racist allies warn against accepting the deal currently being negotiated in Cairo. The demonstrators count to 207 to mark the days that the hostages have been held in captivity in Gaza.

Today (Wednesday) morning, Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock rails against the “terrible hostage deal” being negotiated in Egypt, saying that it calls into question the government’s right to continue in power. There are “soldiers who left everything behind and went out to fight for goals that the government defined, and we throw it in the trash to save 22 people or 33 or I don’t know how many,” she tells Army Radio. “Such a government has no right to exist.”

Her rhetoric echoes that of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of her Religious Zionism party, who on Tuesday said, in another violent incitement against Palestinians, calling for “total obliteration” in Rafah and other areas of the Gaza Strip. “There are no half measures,” Smotrich said. “Rafah, Deir Al-Balah, Nuseirat – total annihilation.”

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31796