Thursday, June 06, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
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Ashdod, June 6 - A Biden administration public relations boondoggle that failed in its stated purpose and would up drifting away from its intended zone amid poor planning and poorer execution still proves more popular among Israeli voters than the existing legislative factions and lawmakers, recent surveys confirmed today.
The floating pier that White House and State Department officials touted in March to relive humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip, operated only briefly until several weeks ago when tidal and other weather forces severed its moorings and send it floating north. Recovery and reinstallation on the Gaza shore could take several more days. Despite the debacle, the facility - which could only supply a fraction of the aid already entering the coastal territory from Israel by truck - still enjoys more popular support from voters than any of the parties or legislators in the Knesset. It was fully operational for a mere ten days.
Polls by Geocartographia, Bar-Ilan University, and Channel 14, among others, in the last three weeks have shown consistent favorability among Israelis for the failed floating pier, at 45%, while no single party, Member of Knesset, or government minister has garnered anything higher than 30%.
Respondents cited multiple reasons for their dislike of the politicians, and their preference for the Biden Boondoggle. Self-identified leftists disliked the right, as expected, but even figures from the center and the left itself attracted opprobrium for failing to exploit Prime Minister Netanyahu's continued political weakness. Centrists showed displeasure with the more radical elements of both camps, but also with the stalwarts of the "centrist" factions in the Knesset, for doing little other than shore up support for a historically unpopular government. Right-wing voters suspect all non-right-wingers of dangerous weakness on security matters, but also showed their disappointment with the prime minister, his allies, and the smaller right-wing parties, who, in their view, have fumbled repeated opportunities to implement an actual right-wing agenda.
The pier on the other hand, despite its high-profile failure, bears no responsibility in the public perception for the security lapses and conceptual rigidity that allowed the October 7 massacre to occur.
Unconfirmed reports had multiple parties developing plans to recruit the floating pier to their ranks. Polling remains unclear whether agreeing to any such overtures will dampen the Israeli electorate's positive opinion of the facility.
If the pier reinstallation proceeds without mishap, analysts believe its relative favorability will wane. The researchers noted that the likelihood of a mishap-free reinstallation remains low, but the history of Hamas firing on the pier might still generate sympathy from Israelis facing the same threat.
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