Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Whom Do We Trust?

The new Peace Index Poll for December last informs us


We asked: “Some claim that the only way to get the two sides, Israel and the Palestinians, to sign an agreement is by exerting strong external pressure on them, mainly from the United States, since otherwise they will never reach agreements by themselves. Do you agree or disagree with this claim?” It turns out that the Jewish public is divided into two almost equal camps, with 49.5% agreeing with the claim that only external pressure will lead to an agreement and 49% disagreeing. A segmentation of the responses here by the respondents’ self-placement on the right-left spectrum uncovers profound disparities: on the right, the majority (60%) disagrees with the claim, the center is evenly split between the two positions, while on the left as a whole a large majority—75%—agrees that without external pressure the sides will not reach an agreement. The rate of those in the Arab public who agree with the claim is very high—77%.  

As for positions on the U.S. exerting pressure on the two sides, in the Jewish public 53% opposes such pressure and 43% support such pressure; 48% say the government will be able to withstand pressure and 47% that it will not be able and a considerable minority (43%) of the Jewish public believes that, even in light of the history of the two sides’ relations, it is possible to build trust between them, while 54.5% do not see it as possible. 

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