Poll: Majority of Israeli Jews pessimistic about peace

83% of Israeli Jews do not believe that a withdrawal to the pre-'67 lines, division of Jerusalem would end Palestinian-Israeli conflict, according to poll conducted on behalf of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Prime Minister Netanyahu and PA President Abbas 311 (R) (photo credit: Jason Reed / Reuters)
Prime Minister Netanyahu and PA President Abbas 311 (R)
(photo credit: Jason Reed / Reuters)
Israeli Jews are becoming more skeptical about a peace agreement with the Palestinians, with 83 percent saying a withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the division of Jerusalem would not end the conflict.
The poll was the third in a series conducted since 2005 by Dr. Mina Tzemach on behalf of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. The findings are based on 500 telephone interviews conducted at the end of November with adult residents of Israel.
According to the findings, 71% of the Jewish respondents opposed giving up all of the east Jerusalem neighborhoods outside the Old City, and 79% felt it was important for the Palestinians to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state – but only 27% believed this would happen.
A summary of the findings concludes that Israeli Jews overwhelmingly support the demand that the Palestinians recognize the State of Israel as a Jewish state. It also mentions that evidence in other surveys shows similar support for the demand that the PA renounce the right of return.
Taken together, these results show that only a third of Israeli Jews believe that the Palestinians would agree to these two stances – which are clearly understood to be demands that Israel would make before any final agreement.
Moreover, 77% of the Jewish respondents thought that both Fatah and Hamas were incapable of ending the conflict.
This pessimistic attitude seems to have been aggravated by recent violence, as a majority of the Jewish respondents thought the developments called for holding onto vital territories.
When asked, “What is preferable – defensible borders or a peace agreement?,” 61% of the Jewish respondents said defensible borders.
This represents a huge shift from the 2005 poll, where only 49% chose defensible borders. In a related question, 72% of the Jewish respondents said that strategic depth had security value, while 23% said it had none.
On Jerusalem, 78% of the Jewish respondents said they would vote for another party if the one they intended to vote for expressed willingness to return land in the capital.
On Iran, 75% of the Jewish respondents thought that sanctions would not stop Iran’s nuclear weapons drive.
And in a key question relating to a possible unilateral attack on Iran by Israel, 60% said Israel could not rely on the US, while 53% said they supported an attack against Iran.