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New Moves toward a Peace Agreement Must Consider Israeli Public Opinion

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser - A March poll by leading Israeli pollster Dr. Mina Tzemach found a decrease in support among Israeli Jews for withdrawal from the West Bank and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The poll indicates that the Israeli public does not agree to Palestinian demands for an independent state on all the territory of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, with its capital in Jerusalem. Therefore, it is difficult to see how any agreement is currently possible. The poll reflects the suspicions Jewish Israelis have of Palestinian intentions and their awareness of the resulting security dangers, especially in light of the current realities in the region. The poll results should clarify for those who wish to promote an agreement that if they want to succeed, the first step needs to be to increase the trust among the Israeli public for any agreement. The only way to achieve this is to attempt to have the Palestinians change their narrative, to stop their one-sided moves against Israel in international forums, and to stop paying salaries to terrorists and lauding them as heroic role models. The writer was formerly Director General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.
2017-03-30 00:00:00
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