New Israeli poll reveals Defense Minister Gallant rated best-performing minister

The Israeli public ranked Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as the best-performing minister in the current Netanyahu coalition, according to a fresh poll conducted by Channel 12 news.

Some 22% of the surveyed individuals gave Gallant high marks as a minister in the Israeli government.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel from the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Shas party was rated as the second-best performing minister, receiving 8% of the votes. Jerusalem’s former popular mayor, Nir Barkat, who currently serves as Minister of Economy, was only rated as best-performing minister by 6% of the respondents.

At the other end of the spectrum, some 35% of the respondents rated National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as the worst-performing minister in the Netanyahu coalition. Critics in Israel and abroad have blamed Ben Gvir for the growing lethal crime wave sweeping across Israeli society, especially in the Jewish nation's Arab communities.

Approximately 7% of the respondents believe that Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the chief architect behind the controversial judicial overhaul that has divided Israeli society for over half a year, is the worst-performing minister.

Gallant is widely seen as the most moderate and most experienced senior official in the current Netanyahu coalition government. In late March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Gallant after the defense minister warned that the proposed overhaul to the judicial system, would undermine Israel’s strategic unity against its external enemies. Following widespread national protests, Netanyahu reversed his decision and reinstated Gallant in April, citing urgent national security priorities.

Some 45% of the respondents said Foreign Minister Eli Cohen should resign after he caused a diplomatic crisis by publicly revealing a secret meeting in Italy with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla El Mangoush.

The U.S. Biden administration blasted Cohen for his lack of diplomatic acumen, which led to El Mangoush being fired and forced to flee her country.

The overall poll results revealed that over half the Israeli public – 54% – are in favor of new national elections. Calls for new elections are not limited to individuals who voted for opposition parties. Almost one-third of Likud party voters, or 29%, are reportedly in favor of new elections, the new poll showed.