Poll Shows Netanyahu Losing Ground In Israel

The disagreement between the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama administration over the issue of Israeli settlements has quickly transformed from a diplomatic spat into a serious crisis.  And the ongoing conflict appears to be eating away support for Netanyahu's government.  Tensions between the two countries surfaced several weeks ago after the Israelis announced the constriction of new settlements in East Jerusalem while Vice President Biden was there on a goodwill visit. The announcement prompted Palestinians to pull out of the US-backed plans to restart the peace process.

Netanyahu along with members of his cabinet and ruling coalition remain defiant and blame the United States for the crisis, arguing, rather unconvincingly, that Obama is strengthening hardliners in the Arab world and making peace less tenable.  But Israelis themselves seem to be putting much of the blame on Netanyahu.  A new poll conducted by Israeli daily Maariv shows a decline in Netanyahu's favorability ratings and general dissatisfaction with his government.  Noam Sheizaf writes:

These last figures are very telling. Contrary to what the PM and his supporters want us to believe, applying pressure on an extreme Israeli government does bring results. Until the recent confrontation with the US Netanyahu and Barak were riding high in the polls and Kadima was losing ground and getting torn by internal politics; but now the public is concerned by the idea of losing American support (48 percent saying that "Israel's international statue is deteriorating") and is not happy with the road Netanyahu is leading this country.

More important, even though most of the public still thinks there is no partner for peace on the other side, 46.2 of Israelis are now accepting the idea of splitting Jerusalem between Israel and Palestine (that's more than those objecting it) - not at all the consensus around the idea of a "united Jerusalem" like Netanyahu and AIPAC would like us to believe.

Netanyahu's main political opponent, Kadima's Tzipi Livni, still polls fairly poorly, with only 29% of respondents saying they believe she will make a better prime minister.  But that is of little comfort to Netanyahu, whose intransigence has isolated him around the world, including Israel's closely ally. 

The US, which has long shielded Israel from Security Council criticism, is considering a move not to oppose the Council's rebuke of Israel's expansionist policies. The BBC is reporting that the US may abstain from a possible resolution condemning Israel settlements in East Jerusalem. 

The possibility surfaced at talks in Paris last week between a senior US official and Qatar's foreign minister.

The official said the US would "seriously consider abstaining" if the issue of Israeli settlements was put to the vote, a diplomat told the BBC.

US officials in Washington have not confirmed the report.

There are no concrete plans at present to table such a resolution at the UN.

But it is likely that the US is considering how to maintain pressure, and a UN resolution would be one way, says BBC state department correspondent Kim Ghattas.