(Ha'aretz)Ephraim Yaar and Tamar Hermann - According to the Peace Index survey of the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research of Tel Aviv University conducted November 1-3, 2004: A majority of Israeli Jews view Arafat as a terrorist (79%) and only a very small minority (5%) see him as a statesman. A clear majority (64%) also think that, in retrospect, Israel erred in allowing him to return from Tunis in 1994 in the framework of the Oslo agreement. There is also a substantial rise in the rate of those (75%) who think Arafat in fact has controlled the Palestinian street since the start of the intifada. Nevertheless, there is no optimism on the Israeli Jewish side that, with other Palestinian leaders, it will be possible to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. This can be explained by the wide consensus in the Jewish public that most of the Palestinians have not accepted the existence of Israel and would destroy it if they could.
2004-11-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive