WASHINGTON – Pessimism was in the air in Israel following Operation Pillar of Defense and slightly prior to the recognition of the Palestinian Authority by the United Nations as a non-member observer state.
A survey conducted from November 21 to November 26 indicated that 51% of Israelis do not believe that a peace agreement will be reached with the Palestinians. Surprisingly, the poll also found that most Israelis are willing to give up Israel 'snuclear weapons in exchange for a non-nuclear Middle East.
Related Stories:
Ramallah: Few thousand celebrate UN vote; chant 'Allahu Akbar'
The findings were presented at the opening of the ninth Saban Forum for US-Israeli strategic dialogue on Friday in Washington, shortly after the Palestinian Authority gained a large majority of the UN's General Assembly votes in its bid to attain observer status recognition.
The survey further revealed that 58% the Israeli public is willing to give up on the country's nuclear weapons, while 87% are of the opinion that Iran will eventually obtain nuclear weapons.
Hugs and handshakes - not yet (Photo: AFP)
The survey was conducted by the Dahaf Institute and Dr. Shibley Telhami, a researcher at the Saban Institute and lecturer at the University of Maryland. Some 600 Israelis participated in the November 21-26 poll, with a 4% margin of error.
- According to the data, the Israeli public is split 50-50 on the question of whether or not to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Amongst those in favor of such an attack, only 20% are for it even without US support.
The pollsters also checked the public's position in the aftermath of Operation Pillar of Defense. They found that 45% of Israelis believe that neither side was victorious in the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas; 40% said that Israel won the latest round of violence, while 11% said Hamas was the victor.
Regarding Israel's strategic situation following the operation, 38% think that it remained unchanged, 36%believe the situation has improved and 21% believe the situation has worsened.
Furthermore, a little less than half of the Israeli public does not believe that a peace agreement will be reached with the Palestinians and 40% say that peace is unavoidable, but will only be attained in five years' time.
Israelis are optimistic regarding the peace agreement with Egypt .Some 41% are of the opinion that peace with Egypt will be maintained, but altered; 36% said that it will remain in its current constellation and only 17% believe that it will be annulled within the next four years.
- Moreover, it seems that Israelis are warming up to the United States in general and President Barack Obama in particular. Some 60% of Israelis believe that Obama is good for Israel and 60% think that things will remain unchanged in his second term.
Also, 60% of Israelis feel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed Mitt Romney for president, but claim that this will not affect the relationship between the two countries.