JERUSALEM, Sep. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity got a boost after his speech at the United Nations last Friday, a poll showed on Monday, following his ratings plunged in the wake of social protests across the country during the summer.

The survey showed that Netanyahu's approval spiked upwards when he rejected the Palestinians' statehood bid on the grounds that such a state could only come through negotiations with Israel, and not as a unilateral step.

The survey was taken only two days after Netanyahu's address, and showed that out of nearly 500 Israelis who were polled, 41 percent responded positively when asked about Netanyahu's performance in the government, while 42 percent responded negatively.

"We asked 495 people living in Israel, including Arabs and new immigrants, all segments of the population," Camile Fuchs from the Tel Aviv University, who conducted the survey, told Xinhua.

"We found that his approval rating increased from 32 percent, when we conducted the last survey six weeks ago, to 41 percent now, " Fuchs said, "and his approval rating is still low, but it goes up from time to time when he gives a speech because he is a very eloquent speaker."

Fuchs said that during the social protests that rattled the country this summer, Netanyahu's performance was rated poorly, with only 29 percent of positive answers among the Israeli respondents.

In the same poll, the majority of respondents, 54 percent, answered negatively about the probability of peace after Netanyahu 's speech at the UN, and 16 percent believed that his speech increased the possibility of more violence in Israel.