Frustration and Fear

What do the majority of Palestinians and Israelis think about prospects for a just and secure peace in the region? Here are some results of recent polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in theWest Bank and Gaza Strip and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:

 

After the formation of the right wing government in Israel in May 2015, 79% of Palestinians were pessimistic about the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations. 

Sixty-five percent of Palestinians said that they no longer believe a two-state solution is a practical possibility due to the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory.

Only 32 percent of Palestinians believe an independent Palestinian state can still be achieved.





An overwhelming 85% of Palestinians believe Israel’s long-term aspiration is “to annex the lands occupied in 1967 and expel their population or deny them their rights,” with only 15% believing that Israel intends to withdraw from the occupied territory. Israelis are suspicious as well: Forty-three percent think that Palestinian aspirations in the long run are to conquer the State of Israel and destroy much of its Jewish population.

On a personal level, too, each side perceives the other as a threat. Among Israelis, 56% are worried and 41% are not worried that they or their family may be harmed by Arabs in their daily life. Among Palestinians, 79% are worried and 21% are not worried that they or a member of their family could be hurt by Israel in their daily life or that their land would be confiscated or home demolished.

It is not surprising that among Palestinians, Gazans are experiencing the worst conditions and the most pessimism about the future. 

Fully half of Gazans polled said they are considering emigration from the Gaza Strip. This is the highest percentage ever recorded in these polls.

In the West Bank, however, popularity of Abbas and Fatah has improved, and people show support and satisfaction with the Palestinian Authority’s new membership in the International Criminal Court.

Nevertheless, cynicism about government remains high. Seventy nine percent of Palestinians believe that corruption exists in Palestinian Authority institutions. Only 33% say people in the West Bank can criticize the PA without fear. 

Most troubling for the future of the region, Palestinian support for armed resistance to Israel has risen from 36 percent three months ago to 42 percent today, with a startling 57 percent now supporting a return to an armed intifada, or uprising. 

Still, support for nonviolent resistance remains high. An overwhelming majority of Palestinians – 86% -- support the campaign to boycott Israel and impose sanctions on it, and 64% believe that the boycott of Israeli products will be effective in helping to end the Israeli occupation.

Two thirds of the public support Hamas-Israel indirect negotiations over a long term Hudna, or truce, in return for ending the siege over the Gaza Strip.

But a majority believes that these negotiations will not succeed.