(Angus Reid Consultants – CPOD Global Scan) – Many Israelis believe the election of Mahmoud Abbas presents a unique opportunity to achieve peace in the region, according to a joint poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 70 per cent of respondents believe a compromis
(Angus Reid Consultants – CPOD Global Scan) – Many Israelis believe the election of Mahmoud Abbas presents a unique opportunity to achieve peace in the region, according to a joint poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 70 per cent of respondents believe a compromise settlement is possible with the other side’s current leadership.
Fatah candidate Abbas won the Jan. 9 Palestinian Authority presidential election with 62.32 per cent of all cast ballots. On Jan. 15, Abbas was officially sworn in, and said Israelis and Palestinians were “destined to live side by side and to share this land.”
Prime minister Ariel Sharon has administered the Israeli government since March 2001. In the January 2003 general election, his Likud party elected 38 legislators to the Israeli Parliament. 59 per cent of Palestinian respondents believe a peace deal can be achieved with Sharon.
Israelis and Palestinians hold different views on whether the Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement should become part of any prospective agreement. 79 per cent of Palestinians support negotiations with Hamas, but only 48 per cent of Israelis concur.
Last year, Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and co-founder Abdel Aziz Rantisi were killed in separate Israeli missile strikes. The Israeli government believes Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of 377 citizens in a variety of attacks, which include dozens of suicide bombings.
Polling Data
Views on the Peace Process
Israelis | Palestinians | |
Believe it is possible to reach a | 70% | 59% |
Support negotiations with Hamas | 48% | 79% |
Source: Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research / Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews to 1,319 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted from Mar. 10 to Mar. 12, 2005. Margin of error is 3 per cent. Telephone interviews to 602 adult Israelis, conducted from Mar. 8 to Mar. 13, 2005. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
