West Bank farmer
Photo: Asaf Shmueli
Poll: 49% of Palestinians would recognize Jewish state
Survey finds willingness to recognize Israel as Jewish as part of peace deal establishing Palestinian state
Almost half of all Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem would agree to recognize Israel as Jewish as part of a peace agreement establishing a Palestinian state, but 48% object to this, a survey published by Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday has found.
But in June, before direct peace talks began, results were more positive. At the time, 58% of the Palestinians said they would be willing to accept Israel as a Jewish state under the aforementioned terms, while just 39% objected.
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Issa Zalibi, a 45-year old farmer from Beit Ummar, told Yedioth Ahronoth, "Israel is already a Jewish state. I don't mind recognizing it as such if this means I can live in my own nation, Palestinian or Muslim."
But Sayid Jabari, who lives in Hebron, opposed the idea.
"I am prepared to recognize Israel as a state within the 1967 borders," he said, "but a Jewish state would be an opening for leaving settlements in place and a threat to Israeli-Arabs."
The survey was undertaken by Professor Yaacov Shamir of Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Professor Khalil Shikaki, who heads the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah.
Researchers interviewed 1,270 Palestinians face-to-face in the beginning of October, about a month after direct talks officially began, and an additional 610 Israelis were interviewed by phone.
Of the Israelis polled, 78% supported the negotiations, but only 30% of Palestinians expressed the same sentiment. Just 6% of Palestinians and 5% of Israelis believe there is a high chance the talks will succeed. Surprisingly, 56% of Israelis said they would support talks with Hamas in order to reach a deal with the Palestinians.
The survey also found that should the talks indeed fail, 51% of Palestinians interviewed would support non-violent popular resistance.
Among Israelis, 54% said they were worried about being injured by Arab violence in their daily lives. Among Palestinians the figure was higher, with 76% fearing injury by Israeli violence.
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