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Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Support for Palestinian state hits two-decade low in U.S.

Support for Palestinian state hits two-decade low in U.S.
By Aaron Blake The Washington Post March 31 at 7:00 AM 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/31/support-for-palestinian-state-hits-two-decade-low-in-u-s/


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's waffling on the idea of a
Palestinian state comes as the idea is less popular in the United States
than it has been in at least two decades.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that the idea of establishing a
new Palestinian state alongside Israel in the Middle East is more divisive
than at any point in the past 20 years, as a long period of generally
bipartisan support for the concept has passed.

The idea is still slightly above water, with 39 percent in support and 36
percent in opposition. But that's a far cry from past Gallup polling in
which a majority of Americans supported the idea (as many as 58 percent in
2003).

The 39 percent who support the idea is the lowest that number has been in
WaPo-ABC and Gallup polling since 1998, and the three-point gap between
support and opposition is the smallest in at least two decades — though not
statistically significant relative to other recent polls from Gallup.

The poll comes as the creation of a Palestinian state — long a goal of U.S.
foreign policy — emerged late as a key issue in the Israeli election.
Netanyahu's Likud Party won the most seats in the election, allowing him to
form the next government and continue as prime minister.

Just weeks before the election, Netanyahu appeared to reverse his stated
pledge to pursue a two-state solution to end Israel's decades-long
occupation of the Palestinian territories with the creation of a new state
next to Israel. Shortly after his victory, though, Netanyahu backed off that
position and said he would continue to pursue the two-state ideal, while
adding that he didn't foresee such an effort bearing fruit any time soon.

Shortly before his reelection, Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress at
the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) — an invitation that
ran counter to the wishes of the Obama administration, which worried that
the visit could poison ongoing negotiations with Iran over restricting its
nuclear program.

The new poll shows Americans are at once supportive of such an agreement —
they support the concept 59 percent to 31 percent — but are not optimistic
that it would succeed in reigning in Iran's nuclear program. Thirty-seven
percent say they are confident that it would prevent Iran from developing
nuclear weapons, while 59 percent are not confident.

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