A poll commissioned by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that was released yesterday shows that “fewer than 30% of Palestinians now support a ‘two-state solution’: a West Bank/Gaza Palestinian state in lasting peace with Israel.”
According to David Pollock of the Washington Institute, who wrote an analysis of the poll:
Regarding the longer-term, fundamental issue of a two-state solution, Palestinian public opinion has clearly taken a maximalist turn. Other recent polls, even after the collapse of the latest peace talks, showed a majority or plurality still favoring the goal of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, alongside Israel (though the numbers were gradually declining). But now, a clear majority (60% overall, including 55% in the West Bank and 68% in Gaza) say that the five-year goal “should be to work toward reclaiming all of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
On this key question, just 31% of West Bankers and 22% of Gazans would opt instead “to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to achieve a two-state solution.” And even fewer, contrary to other recent findings, pick a “one-state solution,” in which “Arabs and Jews will have equal rights in one country, from the river to the sea.” That is the preferred option of a mere 11% in the West Bank and 8% in Gaza.
This pattern is confirmed by other questions in the survey. For example, just one-third said that a two-state solution “should be the end of the conflict.” Nearly two-thirds said “resistance should continue until all of historic Palestine is liberated.” And only a third said that “it might be necessary to give up some of our claims so that our people and our children can have a better life.
The findings that only 27% of Palestinians support a two-state solution shows a significant drop from a similar poll conducted in December 2013 by Hebrew University, which found that 53% supported a two-state solution—a decline of 26% in six months.
The poll was conducted by a “leading Palestinian pollster,” and consisted of 1,200 face-to-face interviews between June 15-17. The poll has a margin of error of 3%.
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