Is support for Palestinian statehood slipping among Israeli Arabs?
According to new polling data collected by the Israel Democracy Institute’s Guttman Center and Tel Aviv University, just half of Israeli Arabs – not including those living under the Palestinian Authority – favor the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The latest Peace Index survey, released on Sunday, shows that only 50.7% of Arabs with Israeli citizenship favor the formation of a Palestinian state. More than one third (38.6%) say they prefer Israel to remain the sole sovereign state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.
Of those Israeli Arabs who support the establishment of a Palestinian state, few say they would want to live in such a state. Just 4.2% say they would move to Palestine if it were established.
The survey also shows few believe a Palestinian state is in the offing.
Just 3.7% of Jews and 14.1% of Israeli Arabs say they strongly believe a final status agreement will be achieved in the foreseeable future between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Thirty-five percent of Jews and 38.4% of Arabs say they do not at all believe such an agreement will be achieved in the coming years.
A total of 76.8% of Jews and 51.9% of Arabs say they are skeptical about such an agreement being reached. Just 21.3% of Jews and 45.1% of Arabs say they were at all optimistic about the chances of such an agreement being hammered out in the near future.