Some 40 percent of the Israeli public holds the government responsible for the country's financial instability, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The Dahaf polling Institute, headed by Prof. Mina Tzemech, conducted the poll on behalf of the Knesset (parliament) television channel.

The survey found that 40 percent of Israelis blame the government for the economic situation and are not convinced that the economic instability is a result of the eurozone crisis.

Among the country's financial woes is the 2012 deficit, which doubled over the course of a year, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz to implement an austerity plan.

The plan includes tax hikes, among which is the value added tax set to rise from 16 percent to 17 percent in September, and cuts of up to 15 billion shekels (3.73 billion U.S. dollars) in the ministries' spending.

Last week, a governmental study revealed that Israel's unemployment rate had hit 7 percent, and experts said it may rise up to 10 percent in the near future.

The prices of eggs, chicken, bread and fuel are on the rise, to the dismay of many in the Israeli public.

Netanyahu and Steinitz put the blame on the eurozone crisis, but only 33 percent of Israelis take their word for it, according to the survey.

Since lifting a fixed 1.7-percent cap on annual spending increase in 2010, the government expenditures have skyrocketed, according to reports in local news outlets, especially for defense purposes.

The government recently added 800 million U.S. dollars to its defense budget over fears of Iran's nuclear plan and the regional instability.

The poll further showed that 16 percent of those polled blamed personal interests of tycoons and industrialists for the economic woes and 69 percent said they would like a renewal of the 2011 social protest.

In 2011, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in protest of the rising costs of living and called for social justice and a change in the government's budgetary priorities.

There have been several attempts in recent months to renew the protest, which failed to garner support of the Israeli public.