Poll: Two-thirds of Israelis believe US is committed to Israeli security in peace talks
Majority of Jewish citizens believe Netanyahu government can't withstand American pressure if proposal bad for country
A new poll released Monday shows that a majority of Jewish Israelis believe the US is committed to reaching a signed peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel.
According to The Israel Democracy Institute's December Peace Index poll, 64% of Jewish Israelis and 78% of Israeli Arabs believe the US, and particularly Secretary of State John Kerry, is committed to ensuring Israel's security in negotiations.
The monthly poll covered Israeli public opinion on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, trust between the parties, and American involvement in negotiations.
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Jewish opinion in Israel was split as to whether strong external pressure was needed in order to reach an agreement, while 77% of the Arab public said an outside push was needed for the sake of the accord.
The numbers dropped when it came to believing that the government would stop a bad American deal.
Only 51% of Israelis (48% of the Jewish public and 65% of the Arab public) said that the Netanyahu-led government would be able to withstand strong American pressure if the Israeli government deemed the peace plan not good for Israel.
Despite the recent rise in terror attacks in the country, there is no clear certainty as to where the sequence of events will lead.
From the poll, 49% of the Jewish public agrees with the official position of the Israeli defense establishment that the series of recent terror attacks are not a third intifada, but an assortment of attacks by lone individuals, while 45% disagree.
In the Arab public the sense on the street is different, as 67% disagrees with the defense establishment position that recent terror attacks are not part of a third intifada, and 28% agree with the defense establishment.
