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Poll: 59% of Israelis mistrust the judicial system

March 1, 2018 at 9:33 am

People come together to protest against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over corruption in Tel Aviv on 13 January 2018 [Gil Cohen Magen/Anadolu Agency]

Mistrust in the Israeli judicial system is increasing as a result of the corruption scandals surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Hayom reported a new poll showing.

Conducted on Wednesday, the study included 500 respondents of whom 59 per cent said they do not trust the judicial system.

Eighteen per cent said the current cases surrounding Netanyahu did not affect their confidence in the system and 23 per cent said they did not have an opinion on the issue.

On Tuesday, results of another poll broadcast by Israeli TV Channel 20 found that 57 per cent of Israelis mistrust the judicial system.

A third poll, broadcast by the same Channel, found 84 per cent of the Israelis believe the police should investigate Netanyahu if there are well-founded suspicions against him.

Read: Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to postpone questioning in corruption cases

Netanyahu is currently entangled in four political scandals: Case 1000 which involves allegations that the PM and his wife accepted illegal gifts from businessmen; Case 2000 which accuses Netanyahu of attempting to buy favourable newspaper coverage; Case 3000, also known as the “submarine scandal”; and Case 4000, in which a close associate of Netanyahu is suspected of providing confidential information to Israel’s largest telecoms company.

The prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, has also been accused of using public funds for private expenditure in the prime minister’s households. Only 20 per cent of respondents to the recent survey believe she is innocent.