The Insanity of Israel's Public Opinion Thinking

From the War and Peace Index November 2008

"With the date of the Knesset elections drawing nearer and the parties
remaining vague on foreign and defense matters, we checked the public’s position on two central issues: the establishment of an independent Palestinian State and the Arab Peace Initiative. On the first issue, the findings of the War and Peace Index show a solid majority among the Jewish public of 58% (v . 36%) who support the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, and a lightly larger majority (61% v . 35%) who see the Palestinian’s claim to an independent state of their own as justified. Moreover, a clear majority, though a bit smaller — 53% compared to 38% — also say that in the framework of a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Israel could allow itself to agree to an independent Palestinian State’s creation.

This structure of position among the Jewish public is important and interesting in light of the wide spread suspicion of the Palestinian’s intentions.

About two-third (63%) expressed agreement with the statement that “In reality, most of the Palestinians do not accept the existence of the State of Israel and would destroy it if they could, despite the fact that the PLO leadership is conducting peace negotiations with Israel.” Sixty-three percent agree with that claim while only 20% disagree, and the rest answered that they weren’t sure or didn’t know.

A segmentation of the answer to this question with the question on personal support or opposition to establishing an independent Palestinian State reveal, as expected, that among those who agree that the Palestinian would eradicate Israel if they could, the rate of those favoring a Palestinian State is lower than among those who disagree with that claim. Yet, even among those who agree with the claim, a majority of 55% support an independent Palestinian State while 40% oppose it.