Right-Wing Critic Slams Pollster Shlomo Filber Over Survey Methodology

A prominent figure on the Israeli right, Tamir Dortal, has launched a scathing attack on Shlomo Filber, a pollster associated with Channel 14, criticizing the methodology of a recent survey he conducted. Dortal, host of the "On Meaning" podcast, posted a video on social media tearing up the newspaper that published the poll, questioning the validity of its results. "All the results here are worth a garbage can. What is this?!" Dortal exclaimed, expressing his disappointment with Filber, whom he previously respected.

Dortal specifically targeted the survey's sample composition, stating it included 470 participants from the religious-nationalist sector, with 65% men and 62% over the age of 55. He questioned the representativeness of such a sample, asking, "Excuse me, a sample that isn't half and half? Tell me, did you fall on your head?" Dortal also argued that the age of the participants did not reflect the broader demographic being surveyed, estimating the average age in the religious-Zionist community to be under 30, though he admitted he had not verified this figure.

This criticism echoes past warnings from within the right-wing camp about over-reliance on polls. In July 2019, following the failure of the New Right party, led by Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, to pass the electoral threshold in the April elections, Bezalel Smotrich advised against becoming complacent based on survey results, citing the New Right's experience.