Support For Two-State Solution Drops To Historic Low

The Israeli settlement of Maale Adumimin in the West Bank. Image by Getty Images

By JTA August 13, 2018

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Support for a two-state solution among Israelis and Palestinians has dropped to a record low following years of a moribund peace process and several rounds of violent military confrontation.

According to a new poll conducted by Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Ramallah, only 43 percent of Israelis Jews and Palestinians are in favor of such a negotiated end to the conflict, a decline of 9 and 8 points since 2016, respectively.

A total of 2,150 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and 1,600 Israelis were polled on their views of a hypothetical peace deal consisting of a de-militarized Palestinian state, an Israeli withdrawal to the Green Line with equal territorial exchange, family unification in Israel of 100,000 Palestinian refugees, West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall under Israeli sovereignty and the Muslim and Christian quarters and the al Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount under Palestinian sovereignty, and the end of the conflict and claims.

Only 37 percent of Palestinians and 39 percent of Israeli Jews stated that they supported such an agreement. Nineteen percent of Israeli Jews expressed support for a unitary state with equal rights for both Jews and Palestinians while 15 percent voiced their approval of annexation without rights. Eight percent supported expulsion of the Palestinians.

Between Jews and Arabs, nearly half of Israelis believe that a two-state solution is still viable, although 45 percent believe that settlements have spread too much to implement such an agreement. While Israeli Arabs remained highly optimistic, with 64 percent thinking this solution remained viable, only 44 percent of Israeli Jews agreed with this assessment.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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