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Stop building settlements say 49% of Americans

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49% Say Israel Should Stop Building Settlements As Part of Peace Deal

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Israel’s insistence on building new settlements in disputed Palestinian territory has heightened tensions with the United States. Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters think Israel should be required to stop those settlements as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 22% of voters disagree and believe Israel should not be required to stop building those settlements. Another 29% are not sure.

Seventy-five percent (75%) agree, however, that the Palestinians should be required to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as part of a peace deal, although that’s down six points from last June. Only six percent (6%) disagree with that. Twenty percent (20%) are undecided.

But 73% also think it is unlikely that there will be lasting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the next decade, consistent with findings in previous surveys. This includes 19% who say it is not at all likely.

Fourteen percent (14%) say a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians is at least somewhat likely, with just two percent (2%) who believe it’s very likely.

When President Obama challenged Israel’s settlement policy last June, 48% of voters said the president’s Middle Eastern policy was about right, but 35% say he was not supportive enough of Israel.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters now say Israel is an ally of the United States, while two percent (2%) view the Jewish state as an enemy. For 32%, the country is somewhere in between the two.

In a separate survey in August of last year, 70% of Americans rated Israel as a U.S. ally.

In September, 59% said America should provide military assistance to Israel if it is attacked. It’s one of only five countries that most Americans feel that way about.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of male voters say Israel should be required to stop new settlements in the disputed territory as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians, but just 42% of female voters agree.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Democrats and a plurality (48%) of voters not affiliated with either party favor an end to the Israeli settlements as part of a deal. Republicans are almost evenly divided on the question.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of GOP voters and 61% of unaffiliateds view Israel as a U.S. ally, a view shared by just 46% of Democrats. Forty-three percent (43%) of Democratic voters see Israel as somewhere between an ally and an enemy.

Israel’s announcement of new settlements last week while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting caused the latest flare-up between the two longtime allies. Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters say they have followed news stories about Biden’s trip to Israel at least somewhat closely. Forty-three percent (43%) didn’t follow that news closely, if at all.

49% Say Israel Should Stop Building Settlements As Part of Peace Deal - Rasmussen Reports
 
Interesting numbers there. Though a majority of Americans agree that Israel is an important US ally, there is still a majority that support US decision to tell Israel to stop building settlements. OTOH a majority also agree that Palestine has to recognize the state of Israel.

Palestinian recognition of the Israeli state would give them legitimate and defined borders to work with in their negotiations. IIRC, Israel doesn't not have well defined borders, correct me if I am wrong.

IMHO, recognition of the state of Israel by the Palestinians and Israel stopping settlements and in some cases rolling back settlement constructions would go a long way in trying to solve the conflict. But then, hey, what do I know?
 
IMHO, recognition of the state of Israel by the Palestinians and Israel stopping settlements and in some cases rolling back settlement constructions would go a long way in trying to solve the conflict. But then, hey, what do I know?

Of course! that is what they have been "negotiating" about since the Oslo Accords in 1991. But some people say the REAL sticking points are two: (1) control of the Noble Sanctuary in Jersaleum and (2) the "right to return" for Palestinians and their heirs to lands and properties in Israel that they left (or were forced to leave) in 1948-49.
 
Poll: Most Israelis support east Jerusalem construction

War and Peace Index finds that despite support for Ramat Shlomo homes, most people don't believe Netanyahu was unaware of plan to announce them during Biden's visit

Ynet, 03.22.10, 14:13 / Israel News

Most Israelis do not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unaware of the plan to announce the construction of 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem at the time of US Vice President Joe Biden's visit, according to the War and Peace Index.

The poll found that 62% of Israelis do not believe Netanyahu's disavowal of knowledge, and 54% believe Israel must consider Washington's stance on the expansion of settlements, even due to "natural growth".

However most of those asked by the survey supported the view that construction in east Jerusalem should be treated like construction in Tel Aviv, despite the harsh criticism launched at the government over the recent diplomatic dispute with the US.

Only a quarter of those polled believe the construction project should not have been approved, with 41% saying that only the timing was wrong. The number of people supportive of the construction in Ramat Shlomo neighborhood is twice that of its objectors.

In general, however, support of the government seems to have waned, with just 34% desiring it to continue leading in its current form. Among Likud voters, 56% support the current government, while among Labor voters 57% want a government with Likud, Labor, and Kadima.

The poll also found widespread support for settlements. Despite the fact that just 6% of those polled have lived or had family living beyond the 1967 borders, 47% objected to the evacuation of all West Bank settlements in favor of an agreement with the Palestinians.

Among supporters of negotiations with the Palestinians, however, 48% supported the evacuation of all settlements in exchange for an agreement, while 75% of those opposed to the relaunching of talks objected to evacuations.

A majority of 58% supported a partial evacuation of settlements, but 47% agreed with previous governments' decisions to found settlements in the West Bank, while 40% did not. The figures show a waning support for settlements, as the same poll conducted in 2001 found that 61% agreed with the decision, while just 28% did not.

Opinions were split on whether the government should offer compensation to settlers willing to leave the West Bank of their own accord, with 49% supporting the move and 42% objecting.

However there was a relative consensus on support for the two-state solution. Only a small minority of 14% supported a plan founding a bi-national state west of Jordan, in which Israelis and Palestinians would have equal rights.

A majority of 66% supported the founding of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with land-swaps allowing Israel to keep large settlement blocs.

Poll: Most Israelis support east Jerusalem construction - Israel News, Ynetnews
 
I think this recent diplomatic row has brought light to the Israeli guile for a lot of Americans. And that in turn is broadening the spectrum from those who will support Israel no matter what and above everything else, from those who recognize that Israel might not be the the "friend" everyone thinks it is.
 
I think this recent diplomatic row has brought light to the Israeli guile for a lot of Americans. And that in turn is broadening the spectrum from those who will support Israel no matter what and above everything else, from those who recognize that Israel might not be the the "friend" everyone thinks it is.

Perhaps you are right. Still, I think it is wishful thinking. I know very few of my fellow American citizens who even pay attention. Those that do buy the media slant of "poor beleaguered Israel", hook, line and sinker .....Palestinians have to change the dynamic by mounting a huge non-violent protest movement if they want to get more Americans to be on their side.
 
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