Most Israelis Support Two-State Solution. So Do I. How About You?

I’ve written extensively at this site and The Huffington Post about the liberal, Zionist case for a two-state solution that provides for a Palestinian homeland on most of the West Bank, and a safe and secure Jewish State next door.

Turns out an overwhelming majority of Israelis — 67% in fact — agree with me.  From The Times of Israel:

A broad majority of the Israeli public would vote in favor of a peace agreement with the Palestinians, if the government brought a plan that offered security guarantees to a referendum, polls published Sunday by the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace found.

Roughly two-thirds of respondents (67 percent) expressed support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with land swaps; a demilitarized Palestine; and Jerusalem’s Old City administered jointly by the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians, with Israel maintaining control of the Western Wall.

The S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, a non-profit advocacy group based in Washington DC, approached two Israeli research companies, the Dahaf Institute and Smith Consulting, requesting that they survey Israeli opinions regarding a future peace agreement with the Palestinians. Each poll was conducted independently…

In both polls, respondents were asked how they would vote if the government brought to a referendum a peace agreement that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the following provisions: Its implementation would take place only after the Palestinians would fulfill all their commitments with an emphasis on fighting terror, and the implementation would be monitored and verified by the United States.

The principles of the hypothetical agreement included:

• Two states: Israel the state of the Jewish people and Palestine the state of the Palestinian people.
• Palestinian refugees will have a right to return only to the new state of Palestine.
• The Palestinian state will be demilitarized, without an army.
• Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem will come under Israeli sovereignty and Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian sovereignty.
• The Old City within the walls will be without sovereignty and will be jointly administered by the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians. The Holy Places will be under the same religious supervision as current arrangements (for example, the Western Wall will be under Israeli supervision and responsibility).
• Borders will be based on the 1967 lines and will include land swaps equal in size that will take into consideration Israel’s security needs and will maintain the large settlement blocs under Israeli sovereignty.

According to the Dahaf poll, 67% of respondents would vote in favor of such an agreement, 21% would oppose it and 12% did not answer. The Smith poll found that 68% would support the agreement (of them 40% would strongly support it), 25% would oppose it (17% strongly oppose it) and 7% had no opinion.

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