News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) A new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Israelis oppose any negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) over Jerusalem. The poll, conducted by Brains' Trust Interdisciplinary Research and Consulting Institute for the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, shows that 62 percent oppose concessions while 29 percent are in favor. 71 percent believe any such deal would require a referendum.

The poll also showed that 61% of Israelis believe that if parts of Jerusalem were ceded to the PA as part of a final status peace settlement, Arab demands upon Israel with respect to Jerusalem would not cease; terrorism against Israel would not cease (69%); and that there was "high chance" that areas of Jerusalem ceded to the PA would serve as the base for new acts of terror (56%). 
 
"Israelis are clearly showing, by the sort of results in this poll and others in recent years, that they do not trust the PA as being a genuine peace partner whose signature on a peace settlement would actually mean anything," said Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton Klein. "Quite clearly, most Israelis believe that whatever parts of Jerusalem might be ceded in a hypothetical peace agreement, the PA would never honor it, Palestinian demands and terror would not cease, and Israel's position, to say nothing of the security and tranquility of Jerusalem, would be drastically affected. Again, we urge the Olmert government to heed the Israeli public and the dictates of common sense and make no more concessions to the PA, especially any leading to Palestinian statehood and the division of Jerusalem."