Israelis are divided on whether the current political crisis should be resolved through early elections, a survey found.
A Ma’ariv poll published Wednesday showed that 72.6 percent of Israelis think Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should resign after a commission of inquiry faulted his handling of the Lebanon war, and 49 percent want early elections to choose a new government.
Roughly the same number of Israelis — 44.6 percent — oppose holding elections now, slightly more than a year after the Olmert government was sworn in, Ma’ariv found. The poll had 501 respondents and a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.
The results indicated that if Olmert is toppled, it likely will be through internal elections in his Kadima Party. The faction was to convene later Wednesday to discuss Olmert’s fate.
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