'Post' poll: Only 11 percent say Obama can stop Iranian threat

The Israeli public doubts the ability of US president Barack Obama to reach a deal with Iran that can remove the Iranian nuclear threat from Israel, according to a Panels Research poll taken Wednesday and Thursday for The Jerusalem Post and its Hebrew sister publication Ma’ariv Sof Hashavua.Just 11 percent believe Obama can reach such a deal, 64% said he cannot and 25% said they do not know.When asked whether Iran’s nuclear program could be stopped with diplomacy, 53% said no, 27% said yes and 20% said they did not know.Asked if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial speech to Congress Tuesday night would impact the negotiations between Iran and the leading nations of the world, 45% said no, 34% yes and 21% did not know.A majority, 51%, said the speech did not harm relations with the US, while 37% said it did. Twelve percent said they did not know.Respondents were evenly split at 46% about whether the prime minister used the speech for political reasons ahead of the March 17 election.Asked if the speech made it more likely they would vote Likud, 21% said yes, 10% said it lowered chances they would cast a ballot for the party, 67% said it had no impact, and 2% did not know. The percentage of those saying the speech would make it more likely they would back Likud was higher among respondents who self-identified as right-wing.The poll of 650 respondents representing a statistical sample of the Israeli population has a margin of error of +-3.9%.