Half of Palestinians think violent confrontation with Israel imminent
Palestinian poll finds 85% of Palestinians think Temple Mount should not have separate gates for Jews; despite pessimistic views, almost 70% believe peace with Israel is possible.
Half of Palestinians anticipate a violent confrontation with Israel in the near future amid daily clashes and rising tensions in Jerusalem, according a poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion published on Thursday.
Out of the 1,000 Palestinians over the age of 18 polled, only 28 percent don't foresee an escalation of hostilities in the near future.
Meanwhile 85.6 percent of respondents agreed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' statement that opening separate gates for Jews to enter the Temple Mount compound would constitute "a unilateral measure that would torpedo any opportunity for reinstating the peace process."
Less than half of the Palestinians (46.6 percent) support the recent unilateral diplomatic moves Abbas has been pushing - a UN Security Council resolution setting a deadline to "the end of Israeli occupation" and a threat to turn to the ICC should the resolution fail. Out of the rest, only 30.6 percent were against the moves, while 21.2 percent refused to answer the question.
The poll indicated there is more support on the Palestinian street for bilateral diplomatic moves. Over half (54.3 percent) of the Palestinians support the two-state solution, while a little less than a third (31.3 percent) oppose it.
In addition to that, 69.7 percent believe there is a chance peace can be reached with Israel, while only 27.5 percent were pessimistic about the prospects for peace.
The 1,000 respondents in the poll represent the adult (over 18) Palestinian population, both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. The margin of error for the survey was ±3.0 percent.
