News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The public has expressed higher interest in the planned Annapolis, Maryland conference but is skeptical about it results, according to the latest Peace Index, compiled at the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Studies and a Tel Aviv University research program.

Fifty percent of those polled think that the conference will not bring about a clarification of the Arab-Israeli dispute. A similar number of people said the conference will not significantly advance the chances of achieving a permanent peace accord. A plurality of 39 percent charged that it is more urgent for the Palestinian Authority (PA) than for Israel to renew and advance negotiations.

A majority of 55 percent of the Jewish public agree that, "Most of the Palestinians have not accepted Israel's existence and would destroy it if they could."