82% of Israelis say Israeli-Egypt peace deal essential for security - poll
An Internet poll it conducted among 400 Jewish Israelis and 100 Arab Israelis found that 82% of the respondents held that the peace treaty was essential for Israel’s security.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFPresident Jimmy Carter shakes hands with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty on the grounds of the White House, March 26, 1979(photo credit: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/WARREN K. LEFFLER/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Support remains high for Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt, almost 40 years after it was signed on March 26, 1979, according to a new poll by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Truman Research Institute.An Internet poll conducted among 400 Jewish Israelis and 100 Arab Israelis found that 82% of respondents held that the peace treaty was essential for Israel’s security.Some 56% said the return of the Sinai Desert to Egypt as part of that agreement was not a mistake. Another 30% said it was a mistake, and 14% said they did not know.Some 65% said they would not trust Egyptian security forces on the other side of the border to protect Israel from a terrorist attack.But a majority of Israelis, 71%, said they trusted Egypt to be a broker to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Israeli support for the deal did not include an understanding that Egypt was Israel’s friend, or that the two countries enjoyed a warm peace. Some 66% of those polled said they believed it was a cold peace, and 64% said that Egypt was neither Israel’s friend nor foe.A majority of Israelis, 54%, said they did not believe the situation would improve in the future. Some 12% said they thought ties would strengthen, 15% thought relations would weak, and 5% believed the deal would fall apart.Only 16% of those polled had visited Egypt, and only 22% said they wanted to go. The majority, 64%, said they had not gone and were not interested in going.The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace released the poll on Sunday, in advance of a conference it plans to hold Monday on the Israeli-Egyptian peace deal. The conference will include a pre-recorded video interview with former US president Jimmy Carter, who signed the deal, and a speech by former US ambassador Dennis Ross.
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