News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) In spite of the government's decision to maintain "calm" in the Gaza Strip, 44 percent of those surveyed stated that they support Israel’s initiating a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, as opposed to 33 percent who support signing some kind of agreement with Hamas to calm the situation, a  Reshet Bet/Maagar Mochot survey reported today.

However, support for PM Olmert and his government, regardless of the option chosen, remained low. Fifty percent of those surveyed feel that PM Olmert doesn’t have the mandate to initiate a large-scale operation (versus 39 percent who feel he does). On the other track, 54 percent of those surveyed felt that Olmert doesn’t have a mandate to sign further agreements with Hamas (versus 37 percent who feel he does).