Only a third of Israelis support annexing parts of the West Bank in July
Four in ten respondents to a recent poll thought the plans for annexation should not go ahead.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS‘THE STATUS of the State of Israel in the territories captured during the 1967 war is disputable. In spite of some differing views, the consensus view of the international community is that Israel could not annex the territories.’(photo credit: REUTERS)
Only a third of Israelis support the government's plan to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank, a new poll has found. The results are in line with similar polls conducted in recent days.A poll commissioned by the Geneva Initiative’s Two-State Coalition and carried out by the Midgam Institute found that 41.7% of Israelis oppose plans to annex up to a third of the West Bank in July, against 32.2% who support the idea. More than a quarter (26.1%) had no opinion on the matter.Support for annexation further dropped when the possibility of damage to the peace process, or of terror attacks in response were raised. Of those who initially supported annexation when asked, 43.5% continued to support annexation even if it provoked a wave of terror attacks, while 37.8% said that then they would be opposed, and 18.7% had no opinion on the matter.And again, of those who initially supported annexation, 60.8% would continue to do so if it significantly harmed the peace agreements with Jordan or Egypt, while 21.8% said in that case they would oppose it."The Israeli Government doesn’t have a mandate from the public to go for annexation. Israelis want to see negotiations and don’t understand why unilateral and dangerous steps should be taken now, in the midst of an economic and health crisis," said Gadi Baltiansky, Israeli director of the Geneva Initiative.Nearly half of those who voted for Likud in the last election backed annexation, against just 14% of those who voted Blue and White. Of those who backed Labor-Gesher-Meretz, not a single respondent backed annexation, while three quarters of those voters opposed the plan.Support for annexation primarily came from those who wanted to see annexation go ahead as they believed the land in question was already a part of Israel, with 54.2% of those who backed annexation giving this as their reason. By contrast, just 6.9% cited security as a reason, another 6.9% wanted to see the territory of Israel expanded into Judea and Samaria, and 4.5% said it should be done since many Jews live there.Nearly half of respondents (47.9%), however, thought that annexation was likely to reduce the chances of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, against just 13.8% who were more optimistic and believed it could help a peace agreement along. Some 28.4% were neutral, saying that annexation would not influence the peace process either way, while 9.9% weren't sure.Respondents were also asked about the impact of annexation within Israeli society as well as with Israel's neighbors. On this question, 45.1% thought that annexation would increase polarity within Israeli, while 30.6% thought it would not make any difference. Just one in ten believed it would reduce polarity.However, overall annexation is not seen as a major issue. Of the 621 Israeli adult respondents to the poll, which was carried out by phone and Internet in early June, just 3.5% cited annexation as one of their two most important issues for the current government to tackle. Recovery from the economic crisis was the key issue for 42.2% of respondents, putting it clearly ahead of preparing for a second wave of coronavirus, which was of concern to 24.6%.Security and fighting terror was the third most critical issue, with 17.4% of Israelis wishing to see action here, while 10.1% wanted to see the government get to grips with corruption.Support for a two state solution, while not a majority opinion, continues to be the favored result overall – 42% backed a two-state solution as their preferred course of action in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quarter of respondents wanted annexation to be the next step, while 22.8% thought that the government ought to continue with the status quo.But there is a majority (54.3%) for the Palestinians to have the right to establish an independent state next to Israel, within the framework of a peace agreement.The findings of the Geneva Initiative's poll are in line with a similar poll carried out by N12, which asked respondents: “On July 1, Israel is supposed to apply sovereignty over 30% of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and, in accordance with Trump’s proposal, will agree to hold negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state. Do you support or oppose this?” Some 46% of respondents were opposed, against 34% who were in favor. The results were somewhat split along political lines - 41% of those who defined themselves as right wing were in favor, while 39% of right wingers opposed the plan. Conversely, on the left, 56% were opposed and just 24% in favor of annexation.
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