A majority of Israelis back the imposition of a total lockdown, according to a new poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute’s Guttman Center.

The poll, which was conducted from September 15th to the 17th and surveyed 603 Israelis, found that 63% of the public supports a ‘total lockdown’, including a ban on public protests.

Just 29% of respondents said that “Protests are a basic right in a democracy and must be permitted even during the lockdown.”

When broken down by voter affiliation, a majority of voters for every party favored banning protests during the lockdown – with the exception of voters for the joint Labor-Meretz-Gesher list.

While there is broad support for banning protests during the lockdown, the number of Israelis who say the other restrictions imposed during the current lockdown are justified has declined significantly.

In April, 62% of Israelis said the lockdown restrictions were justified. Today, just 32.5% said the restrictions imposed during the second lockdown are justified.

But Israelis are roughly evenly divided as to whether the restrictions in place are excessive or not stringent enough.

Thirty percent of respondents said the rules are too restrictive, while 29% said they are not restrictive enough.

The Guttman Center, which has tracked the government’s job performance rating during the coronavirus crisis, found that as the crisis continues, support for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his handling of the pandemic have fallen.

Currently, just 27% of the public approves of Netanyahu’s handling of the crisis, the lowest rating he has received since the pandemic began.

Coronavirus czar Ronni Gamzu, by contrast, still has a net positive approval rating, with 51% of respondents approving of his handling of the crisis. That nevertheless marks a decline since August, when 59.5% of respondents approved of his job performance.