Poll finds only half of Palestinians favor negotiations with Israel

Findings also show that 70% of the Palestinians are pessimistic about the chances for success of the talks.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas. (photo credit: Reuters)
John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas.
(photo credit: Reuters)
Half of the Palestinians favor negotiations with Israel, while three-quarters reject a permanent settlement if it includes a 10-year transitional phase during which the IDF remains deployed in the Jordan Valley, a public opinion poll published on Tuesday found.
The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, covered some 1,270 Palestinians and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Seventy percent of the respondents are pessimistic about the chances for success of the peace talks with Israel.
Fifty percent support the PLO ’s decision to resume peace talks with Israel, while 47% oppose it.
The pollsters also found that a majority of 53% supports the two-state solution, while 46% oppose it.
Sixty-eight percent said that the chances for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the next five years are slim or nonexistent.
An overwhelming majority of 76% oppose a permanent solution if it includes a 10-year transitional period during which the IDF remains deployed in the Jordan Valley.
Opposition to the agreement is higher in the West Bank (82%) than in the Gaza Strip (65%).
According to the findings, 46% support and 53% oppose a package of a permanent-status agreement based on the 2000 Clinton Parameters and the 2003 Geneva Initiative.
Support for this package stood at 43% in December 2012.
Fifty-two percent of respondents support a land swap with Israel, while 48% oppose it.
On the issue of Jerusalem, the survey showed that 68% oppose a compromise in which the east Jerusalem would become the capital of a Palestinian state with Arab neighborhoods coming under Palestinian sovereignty and Jewish neighborhoods coming under Israeli sovereignty.
Other findings of the poll: If the Palestinian Authority held a presidential election now, Mahmoud Abbas would receive 52% of the vote, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would get 42%. If the presidential contest was between jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and Haniyeh, the former would receive 61% and the latter 34%. In parliamentary elections, Fatah would receive 40%, Hamas 29% and other electoral lists combined 8%, while 23% are undecided.
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said that Hamas’s way is the best for ending occupation and building a state, while 36% favor Abbas’s way as the best.
Compared to a year ago, findings indicate a drop in the proportion of those who believe that Hamas’s way is the best and increasing support for Abbas’s decision to launch peace talks with Israel.