Survey- Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies "MADAR"

The Attitudes of Jews in Israel towards Different Issues Related to the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Survey Summary

March 2005
MADAR THE PALESTINIAN FORUM FOR ISRAELI STUDIES
Po Box 1959 Ramallah Palestine
Phone: +972(2)2966201, Fax: +972(2)2966205
www.madarcenter.org

The Core Issues

The Survey revolved around the following core issues:
· Attitudes towards the current political phase (following the
passing away of President Yasser Arafat)
· Attitudes towards proposed solutions and future strategic solutions
· Stereotyping and prejudiced attitudes towards Palestinians and
Arabs in General and towards Palestinian citizens inside Israel

The sample and the surveyed public
The sample included 501 Jews representing "all adult Jewish population (aged
18 years and above) in Israel", with all their different categories
(immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, Haredi, settlers, Kibbutz and
other long time inhabitants). The sample also represented different
locations of residence (The geographic area was divided into four parts:
Jerusalem and its surroundings, Be'er Sheva and the South, Tel Aviv and the
Middle, and Haifa and the North).

Margin of error: 5%

Data Collection

Telephone interviews were conducted and data was gathered and filled in a
questionnaire that had been prepared by a special Madar team.

The survey implementing party conducted the telephone interviews on 14, 15
and 16 March 2005.

Implementation of the Survey

Appointed by Madar, Dr. Mina Tsemeh, the surveys expert at Dahev Institute,
led the implementation of the opinion survey in Israel.

Major Outcomes

First-the Current Political Phase
The survey included three questions on the current political phase:
First question-To what extent do you believe the current Palestinian
leadership (presided over by Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen) is either serious or
unserious in reaching a permanent solution to the conflict with Israel?
· The current Palestinian leadership is very serious-11%
· It is sufficiently serious-47%
· It is not sufficiently serious-20%
· It is not serious at all-17%
· No response-5%

Second Question-Is the current phase suitable or unsuitable for initiating
talks that aim at reaching a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict?
· The current phase is very suitable-34%
· I believe the current phase is suitable-34%
· I believe it is not suitable-14%
· Not suitable at all-15%
· No response-3%

Third Question- Some believe that the current phase is favorable for
reaching a permanent solution to the conflict; others believe it is not
possible to reach a permanent solution now. What is your opinion?
· The current phase is favorable for a permanent solution-26%
· The current phase is favorable only for a partial solution-36%
· It is not possible to reach a permanent solution during the current
phase-36%
· No response-2%

Second-Permanent Status Issues
The survey addressed the following issues pertaining to the permanent
settlement of the conflict: The Establishment of a Palestinian state,
Jerusalem, the Refugees, the Settlements, and the Borders. Two relevant
questions were asked:

First question- Some believe that the current phase is suitable for reaching
a permanent settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Do you think
resolving one of the following issues is possible or not possible:
Withdrawal to the June 1967 borders, Jerusalem, refugees and dismantling
settlements?

Second question- What is the most difficult issue for resolving within the
framework of permanent settlement of the conflict: the establishment of a
Palestinian state, Jerusalem, the refuges, the settlers, or the borders?

Results

First question:
· Withdrawal to the June 1967 borders:
- Definitely possible-6%
- I believe it is possible-29%
- I believe it is not possible-22%
- Definitely not possible-37%
- No response-6%.

· Jerusalem:
- Definitely possible-5%
- I believe it is possible-26%
- I believe it is not possible-19%
- Definitely not possible-49%
- No response-1%.

· Refugees:
- Definitely possible-10%
- I believe it is possible-24%
- I believe it is not possible-18%
- Definitely not possible-45%
- No response-3%.

· Dismantlement of Settlements:
- Definitely possible-31%
- I believe it is possible-33%
- I believe it is not possible-11%
- Definitely not possible-24%
- No response-4%.

Second Question:
· The most difficult issue to resolve:
- Jerusalem-29%
- Refugees-20%
- Establishment of a Palestinian state-18%
- Settlements-16%
- Borders-15%
- No response-2%.

Third- Attitudes
The survey examined the attitudes of the Jewish population in Israel towards
the following issues: Dismantlement of settlements, The Disengagement Plan,
Establishment of a Palestinian state, Returning areas to the Palestinian,
The right of Return of the Palestinians within the borders of the State of
Israel, establishment of a bi-national state.

Some of the results were as follows:
· Dismantlement of Settlements (In response to the following
question: Do you agree of disagree with the statement that settlements
should not be dismantled even within the frame of a peace agreement?):
- I totally agree-23%
- I tend to agree-7%
- I tend to disagree-15%
- I disagree-51%
- No response-4%.

· Establishment of a Palestinian State (In response to the following
question: The majority of Palestinians seek the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state over the territories occupied by Israel in
June 1967. Do you agree or disagree with this solution?)
- I totally agree-13%
- I tend to agree-21%
- I tend to disagree-15%
- I totally disagree-50%
- No response-1%.

· The right of Return inside Israel (In response to the following
question: To what extent to you agree or disagree with the following
statement: I support an Israeli policy that allows the return of Palestinian
refugees to the state of Israel?):

- I totally agree-2%
- I tend to agree-5%
- I tend to disagree-7%
- I totally disagree-84%
- No response-2%.

Fourth-General Results
1- How does the Jewish population in Israel identify their political
affiliations?
- Right-19.5%
- Moderate right-25.8%
- Middle-24%
- Moderate left-15.3%
- Left-6%
- Not willing to identify their position-9.4%.

2- Perceptions of what happened in 1948:
- Israel committed a wrongdoing against Palestinians-3%
- Palestinians misbehaved and consequently inflicted harm upon
themselves-57%
- A wrongdoing was committed against Palestinians regardless of who is
responsible for it-16%
- The Palestinians got what they deserved-18%
- No response-3%
- None of the above -1%.

3- What are the factors to which the survival of Israel in the Middle
East is largely related (Each factor was examined separately):
- Military superiority-74%
- Establishment of normal relations with Palestinians and the Arab
countries-47%
- Economic and cultural integration with the Middle East-44%
- Immigration of the World Jewry to Israel-48%.