The popularity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fell sharply in the July poll by the Smith Institute for "Globes". Netanyahu's bounce from the Obama effect earlier this year, following his speech to the US Congress, has dissipated and has been replaced with the tent protest effect.
Since the domestic battle began with the cottage cheese protest and now with the tent protest and others, the Likud has lost three Knesset seats to 26 seats, were elections to be held now.
The Smith Institute also asked respondents to rank Likud ministers on a scale of 1 to 10, and compared the results with the previous scores in December 2010. Only one minister - Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon - saw an improvement in his score, from 6.97 to 7.21, putting him far ahead of all of his colleagues. The second most popular Likud politician is Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan, with a score of 6.33 points. Netanyahu's score fell to 5.27 points from 5.9, and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz's score fell to 4.66 points from 5.98 points.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 28, 2011
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