PEACE INDEX: ISRAELI JEWS SPLIT OVER REGULATION BILL; 56% SUPPORT MOSQUE BILL

he Jewish public is divided regarding the Regulation Bill. According to this month's Peace Index, published Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, 46% of Jewish Israelis support the government's initial position, which is that legislation must be passed so as to prevent the eviction of Amona, despite the Supreme Court decision that the outpost must be razed by December 25. Moreover, 43% believe that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's stated position, that the Knesset should not pass any laws that forestall the evacuation, should be adhered to.

Mosque Bill: A majority of the Jewish public, 56%, supports the Mosque Bill. However, 59% of the same population group also thinks that it's possible to reach a mutually beneficial understanding without the need for new legislation. Meanwhile, 93% of the Arab Israeli public believes it was possible to reach a settlement without having to pass new laws.

Trump and Israel: Most Jewish Israelis think that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will neither support nor oppose building in the territories. 50% of Israelis believe that Trump will favor Israel over the Palestinians. Moreover, 20% think that he will take a neutral stance, while only 1% predicts that he will be more inclined to favor the Palestinians. In addition, 46% of the Israeli public believes that will pressure both sides to compromise and reach an agreement, while 23% think he won't get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. In contrast, 18% believe that the U.S. President-elect will exert heavy pressure to address the issue.

With regards to construction in the territories, 39% of Jews and 33% of Arabs believe that Donald Trump will not interfere. However, while 22.5% of Jewish Israelis and 47.5% of Arab Israelis think that he will support it, only 18% of the former and 10.5% of the latter believe that Trump will actually act to prevent continued construction in the territories.

Left, Right and Criticism of the Government: A significant portion of the Israeli public (42.5%), and a nearly half of Jewish Israelis (48%), believes that the Left in the country is not loyal to the state (compared to 43% who think the opposite). In addition, 52.5% of Israelis think that it is illegitimate to criticize the government during a period of heightened security tensions.

View the full survey>>

This month's survey was conducted by Professor Tamar Hermann of the Israel Democracy Institute and Professor Ephraim Yaar of Tel Aviv University via the Midgam Research Institute, between November 29 and December 1, 2016. The survey included 600 respondents, who constitute a representative national sample of the adult population aged 18 and over.

For further details:
Contact Amir Koren, Israel Democracy Institute spokesperson:
054-4557244, amirk@idi.org.il