55% Of Israelis Think Trump Won’t Oppose Settlement Construction
View of the Israeli settlement of Elkana (foreground), in the West Bank. Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A majority of Israelis believe that President Donald Trump will not oppose settlement construction in the West Bank, a poll new found.
Some 55 percent of Jewish Israelis told the monthly Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University Peace Index they do not believe Trump will oppose settlement construction. Some 77 percent of Arab Israelis believe likewise.
In addition, 61 percent of Jewish Israelis and 87 percent of Arab Israelis said they do not think the Trump administration will force an unwanted peace solution on Israel.
The findings, released on Tuesday, come less than a month after Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to Washington that he is not specifically attached to the two-state solution, but rather is happy to find a solution that is satisfactory to both sides.
Earlier in February, Trump said building new settlements or expanding existing ones “may not be helpful” in reaching a peace deal. At a press conference with Netanyahu in Washington, Trump told the prime minister he would like to see Israel “hold back on settlements for a little bit.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
