Seventy seven percent of the Jews in Israel reject an Israeli retreat to 1949 Armistice lines with small border modifications in a peace deal, a poll sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has found. The respondents said they would oppose such a retreat even if it was part of a peace deal in which the Arab Countries declared an end to the conflict with Israel.
The formula is the one suggested by U.S. President Barack Obama in his last speeches on the subject.
The poll was conducted by the Dahaf Institute for the JCPA, which is headed by former Israel United Nations Ambassador Dore Gold, an informal advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Eighty five percent of Israeli Jews support leaving Jerusalem united under Jewish sovereignty. Seventy five percent oppose handing over the Temple Mount to Palestinian control, even if the Kotel remains in Israeli hands as part of a peace deal.
However, 52% favored a deal that would place the Temple Mount under international sovereignty and leave the Kotel in Israeli hands.
Sixty-five percent opposed a deal that would also involve giving up control of other holy sites, like Rachel’s Tomb or the Cave of Patriarchs, while leaving Israel with the Kotel.
Regarding the Jordan Valley, 75% said that they do not agree to vacate the Jordan Valley and a similar percentage opposed giving up the Etzion Bloc. Some of these said that they “absolutely” refuse and others said that they “tend to” refuse.
Obama recently unpleasantly surprised Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu with a speech calling for a return to the 1949 Armistice lines. Observers are concerned that Obama will be exceedingly hostile toward Israel in a second term in office, and especially so during the last two years of the term -- should he win reelection in 2012.