A growing number of Israelis are opposed to the government’s use of lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic, a new poll shows, as Israel prepares to enter its third lockdown in nine months.
On Friday, Ma’ariv released a poll conducted by Panels Politics which shows that Israelis are nearly evenly divided on the question of whether the government was right to vote to impose a third lockdown.
A narrow plurality of 43% said they agreed with the decision, compared to 40% who said the decision was wrong. Among those with an opinion, 51.8% said the government’s decision was justified, compared to 48.2% who said it was not.
That marks a steep decline from the level of support enjoyed by the two previous lockdowns.
Polling by Israel Democracy Institute’s Guttman Center earlier this year found strong support for the first lockdown, with 62% of Israelis saying in April that they agreed with the measures taken by the government to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
In September, 63% of Israelis backed a total lockdown, the Guttman poll found.
The Panels Politics poll released Friday morning also found that despite widespread criticism of the decision to impose the lockdown, most Israelis plan to adhere to the regulations.
Just 5% said they do not plan to follow the rules, compared to 68% who said they plan to follow the rules completely, and 21% who said they will follow some of the rules.
The Israeli government voted Wednesday night to impose a two-week lockdown nationwide, beginning on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.