Fifteen months of war in Gaza and skirmishes in Judea and Samaria may have dramatically changed the Israeli outlook on a Palestinian state. For the first time since 2008, a majority of the Israeli Jewish population opposes a Palestinian state of any kind, according to a Swords of Iron survey conducted by Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) taken in December and published recently. Among Jewish Israelis polled, 64 percent opposed a Palestinian state under any conditions. When the surveyed Israeli Arab population was included, the numbers opposing a state were smaller but still constituted a majority of 52 percent of Israeli citizens. Knesset member Ariel Kallner from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said that creating a Palestinian state would be the equivalent of national suicide for Israel. “And we are finished with committing suicide,” Kallner said. He added, “I would have been surprised if the poll results were different after our experience with the Palestinian state in Gaza.
Prior to October 7, 2023, Gaza was a Palestinian state, and we know what the result was for southern Israel, the ensuing difficult war, and the challenging times we now live in,” he stated. Throughout the early 2,000s, a solid majority of Israeli Jews supported some form of Palestinian state, but support began to slowly decline from the time just after the destruction of the Jewish Gaza settlements following the disengagement in 2006 and Hamas’ violent takeover of Gaza in 2007. Support for a Palestinian state continued to decline from the beginning of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s second stint as leader in 2009 until 2020. Among the poll’s other findings: One-third of Israeli Jews surveyed support Israel’s annexation of the Gaza Strip, and of those respondents, half said they favour rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza. Slightly over half of Jewish respondent’s favour giving control of Gaza to a “moderate” Palestinian entity or some form of international administration. Just over half of Israeli Jews surveyed said Israel would achieve most or all of its war objectives, while 38 percent believe few or none of the objectives would be attained.
Source: CBNNews
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