Monthly “Peace Index” survey sees majority wary to Hamas-Fatah agreement – and disagree with US blaming Israel for the talks’ failure. Israel National News
A large majority of the Jewish public in Israel (68%) support the government’s decision to halt peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) following its unity pact with Hamas, a poll revealed Wednesday.
The Guttman Center and Evens Program for Conflict Resolution at Tel Aviv University (TAU) conducted the poll, a monthly “Peace Index” part of the Israel Democracy Institute.
According to the poll, 68% of the Jewish public supported the State’s decision to curtail talks with the PA, but the results were heavily polarized by political affiliation. Of respondents who answered that they supported the move, 82% identified as “right-wing,” 59% identified as “moderates” and only 26% identified themselves as “left-wing.”
The public is also heavily divided on what stalled peace talks mean for Israel’s future. Of respondents, slightly more believe that the talks could be harmful to Israel in the short-term (36%-41%) rather than in the long term (34%-40%).
57.5% of the public believed that the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation pact endangers Israel security – the same percentage of people who disagree with the EU’s notion that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s involvement makes the agreement more inclusive and, therefore, more legitimate.
56% of the Jewish public believes US President Barack Obama is “incorrect” for assigning blame to both Israel and the PA for the failure of talks, according to the survey. However, of those, respondents are widely polarized by political affiliation; 70.5% of self-identified “left-wing” respondents agreed with Obama’s assessment, compared to 54% of “centrists” and just 27.5% of “nationalists.”