Israeli Journalist Ayala Hasson Denounces Political Polls as Manipulative Ahead of Elections

Senior Israeli journalist and presenter Ayala Hasson launched a sharp critique against the reliability of political polls published during election periods. In a radio interview on "Gali Israel" with Yotam Zamri and Noam Busi, Hasson urged the public not to trust the poll results, describing them as deliberate manipulations designed to engineer public perception. She explained that polls are published throughout the pre-election period with varying numbers, making it impossible to discern truth from falsehood until election day reveals the real outcomes.

Hasson supported her claims by sharing two personal examples from past elections that exposed clear political biases among pollsters. In one case, a pollster gave Itamar Ben-Gvir an unrealistically high number of seats, allegedly to create the impression that Ben-Gvir was gaining momentum, thereby siphoning votes from Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc. Hasson confronted the pollster, who admitted the data was inaccurate but showed no concern on election day.

In another example, she recounted a poll conducted just before voting day that heavily favored Tzipi Livni over Yair Lapid, despite Lapid ultimately winning 19 seats to Livni’s 6. Hasson confronted the pollster about working with Livni’s camp, highlighting the political motivations behind skewed polling.

Hasson also emphasized that bias begins with how poll questions are formulated, noting that question wording can influence responses and create artificial trends. She concluded with a clear warning to viewers: "Don’t believe the polls," a message she has consistently conveyed over the years.