JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity has risen dramatically following his Washington trip, according to a poll.
Some 47 percent of Israelis polled believe Netanyahu’s trip to the United States was a success and some 10 percent viewed it as a failure, the new Haaretz poll found.
The poll found that 51 percent of those questioned were satisfied with Netanyahu’s performance, while 36 percent were not — nearly the opposite of a previous poll taken more than a month ago in which 38 percent of Israelis expressed satisfaction with Netanyahu’s performance and 53 percent disappointment.
Nearly half of the public felt "pride" at seeing Netanyahu address the U.S. Congress, while only 5 percent called it a "missed opportunity." The rest expressed no opinion, while 20 percent of those questioned said they hadn’t watched the speech.
Some 43 percent of the respondents called Obama "businesslike," 25 percent called him "friendly" and 20 percent hostile.
The poll was conducted by the Dialog organization under the supervision of Professor Camil Fuchs of the Tel Aviv University Statistics Department.
