Nearly two-thirds of residents of an Israeli town targeted by Palestinian rocket crews would leave if they could.
A poll published Friday in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot showed that 64 percent of those living in hardscrabble Sderot would leave if they had the means and opportunity, while 35 percent said they would not.
Sderot has suffered thousands of rocket strikes from the nearby Gaza Strip, but the survey’s findings suggested that the townspeople’s mostly difficult economic situation also may have contributed to low morale.
Residents of kibbutzim and moshavim on the outskirts of Gaza who face a similar rocket threat were largely unwilling to leave – 75 percent said they would go if they could and 25 percent said they would not.
Respondents censured Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for his overall handling of Palestinian rocket fire. Eighty-six percent of them gave the government a “bad” grade on the issue, 10 percent gave a “medium” grade and 2 percent gave a “good” grade.
Yediot did not say how many responded to the poll or provide a margin of error.
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