Israelis Wary Of West Bank Withdrawal In New Poll
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A new survey shows that over the past decade support for Israel leaving the West Bank as part of a potential peace deal with the Palestinians has fallen precipitously over the past decade.
According to the poll, conducted by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, only 36% of Israelis would now back withdrawal from the entire West Bank and Jewish settlements there as part of a negotiated accord. That compares to the 60% support that such a proposition had in 2005.
The survey registered a similar drop in backing for the “Clinton parameters,” former President Bill Clinton’s proposal for a Palestinian state, in which Palestinians would have a capital in east Jerusalem, control the Temple Mount and maintain their own security force on the West Bank. Israel would keep its settlement blocs under that plan. Enjoying 55% backing in 2005, that number has today sunk to 29%.
Dore Gold, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, wrote the result showed “the Israeli public implicitly understands that the Middle East remains a very dangerous and chaotic region.”
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
