An overwhelming majority of Israelis say they want a cease-fire deal to get the remaining hostages in Gaza back alive.
Most also say they’re unhappy with the government and their prime minister is prolonging the war for personal reasons. So, as talks appear to stall and the risk of another war — with Hezbollah in Lebanon — seems closer than ever, you might assume Benjamin Netanyahu would be in trouble politically. Far from it.
Netanyahu’s popularity ratings are back in the black this month, overtaking opposition leader Benny Gantz as the best man to lead Israel for the first time since the conflict began, according to a poll by Israel’s Lazar agency for Maariv, a daily newspaper. And when the Israel Democracy Institute asked if people wanted their country to expand the war to take on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the answer was mostly yes.