As further evidence that the present right wing Likud government of Israel represents a minority of uber-nationalist and religious extremists, in a survey just conducted by the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, two-thirds of Israelis support dismantling settlements in the disputed (read “occupied”) territories as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Three fifths of Israelis support dismantling settlements in the disputed* territories…
60% of the Israeli public answered that they supported “dismantling most of the settlements in the territories as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.” This is 11 points higher than the previous survey, conducted in December 2009, and the highest result since 2005.
One-thirds of the Israeli public oppose dismantling most of the settlements, with 13 percent of that number very strongly opposed.
In sharp contrast, however, are the responses of settlers surveyed by the Truman Institute. 69% of settlers oppose dismantling West Bank settlements – and a majority believes that most of the Israeli public shares this view.
*As a footnote, the use of the term “disputed” to replace “occupied” is an old propaganda trick to obscure the legal status of the Palestinian territories, and was first suggested by the Republican pollster/Israel consultant, Frank Luntz.
