Poll: Netanyahu can stand up to US

More than half of Jewish Israelis don't believe trust can be built with Palestinians; three quarters of Israeli Arabs disagree.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and John Kerry. (photo credit: GPO/Haim Zach)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and John Kerry.
(photo credit: GPO/Haim Zach)
A majority of Israelis believe Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government will be able to withstand pressure from US Secretary of State John Kerry to accept a diplomatic plan that would not be good for Israel, according to a poll published Tuesday.
The monthly Peace Index poll, taken by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, found that 51 percent of Israelis believe Netanyahu could stand up to such pressure and 43% think he cannot.
The poll found that 48% of Jewish Israelis answered the question affirmatively and 47% negatively. Among Arabs, 65% said yes and 21% said no.
The poll found that 53% of Jewish Israelis oppose the US exertion of pressure on the two sides, pushing them toward an agreement, while 43% support such pressure. Among Arab Israelis, 79% support the US exerting pressure on both sides, and 18% oppose it.
The percentage of Israelis who believe the US is committed to maintaining Israel’s security is higher than the percentage who think the US is committed to reaching a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Jewish state.
Sixty six percent said the US, and particularly Secretary of State John Kerry, is committed to ensuring Israel’s security in negotiations with the Palestinians.
The percentage who believe the US wants to reach a peace agreement is 62%.
More than half of the Jewish respondents, 55%, said they believe it is currently impossible to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians, while 43% said it can be done. Among Israeli Arabs, the numbers were much different, with 74% saying trust can be built and 25% saying no.
A large majority of both Jewish and Arab Israelis said the leadership of Israel and the Palestinian Authority were responsible for building that trust.
The survey of 606 respondents constituting a representative sample of the adult population of Israel was conducted last Monday and Tuesday.
The measurement error for a sample of this size is 4.5 percentage points.