Polls: 79% of Israeli Jews don't believe peace will come

Israel Hayom survey also finds 77.5% oppose Palestinian prisoner release, 62.9% prefer settlement freeze to prisoner release.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Livni and Erekat 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Livni and Erekat 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The American-brokered negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that began in Jerusalem last week will not lead to a final-status agreement that will end the conflict, 79.7 percent of respondents said in a Gal Hadash poll published in Friday’s Israel Hayom.
The poll of 500 respondents, representing a statistical sample of the Hebrew-speaking adult Jewish population found that only 6.2% believe a deal will be reached.
The remaining 14.1% of respondents said they did not know.
Regarding Israel’s agreement to release 104 Palestinian terrorists from prison as a gesture for the talks, 77.5% said they opposed the move, 14.2% said they were in favor and 8.3% said they did not know.
Asked whether they preferred releasing the prisoners or freezing construction in Judea and Samaria, 62.9% said they favored a freeze, 11.3% chose the release of prisoners and 25.8% said they did not know.
The poll, taken Wednesday, had a 4.4% margin of error.
A separate survey by Ma’agar Mohot for the Ma’ariv newspaper found that 53% would oppose and 39% support an agreement in which Israel would withdraw in Judea and Samaria and relinquish security control over Arab cities in return for the Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and giving up their “right of return” to pre-1967 Israel.
The poll was taken to mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the first Oslo Accord.
Asked whether the accord helped or harmed Israel’s security, economy and diplomatic situation, 57% said it had harmed the situation, 11% thought the accord had helped and 20% said it had not made a difference.
The poll of 506 Jewish respondents had a margin of error of 4.5%.