Press Release

Israeli Jews Back Two-States, Support Aid to Egypt

Majority of Jewish, Arab Israelis Believe Two-State Solution Is Possible 2/3 of Israeli Jews Back Western Economic Aid to Egypt

Majority of Jewish, Arab Israelis Believe Two-State Solution Is Possible

2/3 of Israeli Jews Back Western Economic Aid to Egypt

Tuesday, 3 September 2013, Israel Democracy Institute, 4 Pinsker St., Jerusalem - The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and Tel Aviv University are releasing the monthly Peace Index poll covering Israeli public opinion on the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the challenge posed by the recent EU resolution banning cooperation with Israeli bodies involved in the territories, events in Egypt, and how Israel's situation will change in the coming year. (Israelis were also asked about the potential aftermath of a US attack on Syria.)

Israelis were polled on Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

  • Two-State Solution Is Not Dead: 54% of Israeli Jews disagree with Minister Naftali Bennett's assertion that the two-state solution is dead, while 41% agree with him. 58% of Israeli Arabs also disagree, and 32% agree.
  • Peace Agreement to Prevent a Binational State: 48% of Jewish Israelis agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu's statement that a peace agreement is vital to preventing Israel from becoming a binational state without a Jewish majority in the foreseeable future, while 45% disagree. Among Arab Israelis, 34% agree with Netanyahu's assertion, and 50% do not.
  • Favorability of Negotiations: 64% of Jewish respondents and 90% of Arab respondents are in favor of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, while 31% of Jewish respondents and 6% of Arab respondents are against them.
  • Peace Agreement as End of Conflict: 78% of Jewish respondents do not believe that the Palestinians would truly see the signing of a peace agreement as marking the end of the conflict, while 20% do. 48% of Arab respondents do not believe so either, and 44% do believe the peace agreement would mark the end of conflict.
  • Obama's Commitment to Israel's Security: Recognizing that the US initiated the current round of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, 71% of Israeli Jews and 82% of Israeli Arabs believe that US President Obama is committed to Israel's security, while 27% of Israeli Jews and 8% of Israeli Arabs believe he is not.

Israelis were asked their thoughts on the recent policy change announced by the European Union.

  • EU Resolution's Threat to Israel's Economy: With regard to the EU resolution prohibiting cooperation with or economic assistance to Israeli bodies that are active in the territories, 67% of Israeli Jews and 64% of the Israeli Arabs see this step as endangering Israel economically. Approximately one-quarter of Israeli Jews (27%) and Israeli Arabs (26%) do not believe that it endangers Israel economically.
  • EU Resolution's Threat to Israel's Status: Israelis are closely divided on whether the EU resolution indicates a significant danger to Israel's status in the international community. 49% of Jewish Israelis and 44% of Arab Israelis believe it indicates a significant danger, while 47% of Jewish Israelis and 48% of Arab Israelis do not.

Israeli opinion was assessed regarding the overthrow of Morsi and its ramifications.

  • Egyptian Army Overthrow of President Morsi: 56% of Jewish Israelis and 44% of Arab Israelis believe that it was good for Israel that the Egyptian army overthrew President Morsi, while 20% of Jewish Israelis and 33% of Arab Israelis believe it wasn't.
  • US Economic Aid to Egypt: If reports that Israel has been trying to persuade the US and Europe to continue economic aid to Egypt are correct, 66% of Israeli Jews believe that Israel has acted wisely, while 20% believe that Israel has not. 37% of Israeli Arabs think Israel would have acted wisely in such a scenario, and 42% think Israel would not have been acting wisely.
  • Israeli-Egyptian Relations: 35% of Jewish respondents believe Israeli-Egyptian relation will be unaffected by Morsi's ouster, 30% anticipate improvement, and 12% think relations will suffer. 36% of Arab respondents believe relations will improve, 28% anticipate no effect, and 15% believe the relationship will be damaged.

Lastly, Israelis were asked to predict how Israel's situation will change over the coming year.

  • Attentiveness of Leaders to the Public: 56% of Israeli Jews believe their leaders' attentiveness will remain the same, 18% believe it will improve, and 17% believe it will worsen. 29% of Israeli Arabs believe it will worsen, 26% believe it will remain the same, and 16% believe it will improve.
  • Military / Security: 46% of Jewish Israelis believe the security situation will remain the same, 28% believe it will improve, and 16% believe it will worsen. 30% of Arab Israelis believe it will improve, 29% believe it will remain the same, and 27% believe it will worsen.
  • Personal Security: 50% of Jewish Israelis believe the level of personal security will remain the same, 22% believe it will worsen, and 21% believe it will improve. 39% of Arab Israelis believe it will worsen, 34% believe it will remain the same, and 16% believe it will improve.
  • Foreign Relations: 50% of Israeli Jews Israel's foreign relations will remain the same, 24% believe they will improve, and 17% believe they will worsen. 35% of Israeli Arabs believe they will worsen, 29% believe they will remain the same, and 21% believe they will improve
  • Economic Stability: 39% of Jewish Israelis believe Israel's level of economic stability will remain the same, 32% believe it will worsen, and 20% believe it will improve. 43% of Arab Israelis believe it will worsen, 23% of Arab believe it will remain the same, and 23% believe it will improve.
  • Narrowing Social Gaps: 40% of Jewish respondents believe social gaps will remain the same, 38% believe they will worsen, and 15% believe they will improve. 36% of Arab respondents believe they will worsen, 36% believe they will remain the same, and 18% believe they will improve.

This survey, conducted August 27 - 28, 2013, included 601 respondents who constitute a representative sample of the adult population of Israel. The measurement error for a sample of this size is 4.5%.

The preview of this month's Peace Index, which featured Israeli opinion on the potential aftermath of a US-led strike on Syria, can be found at en.idi.org.il/August2013Index. The full results of the Peace Index are available on the Peace Index website.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Peace Index Co-Director Prof. Tamar Hermann, contact:
Yehoshua Oz
Director of International Communications
press@idi.org.il