Despite flotilla, Palestinians and Israelis more willing to compromise

Despite the Gaza flotilla incident, both Israelis and Palestinians are showing a greater willingness to compromise, though on both sides two-thirds remain pessimistic about the future of the peace process, according to a joint Israeli-Palestinian poll.

Following the Gaza flotilla incident, 63% of Palestinians believe they came out the winners and most Israelis (50%) placed the blame for the grave results on the flotilla organizers, revealed the latest joint public opinion survey conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah.

Only 28% of Israelis believe that the Israeli political echelon that approved the operation is responsible for the results of the incident, and 13% believe that the responsibility lies with the military echelon that carried out the operation.

In the aftermath of the flotilla incident and while Turkish-Israeli relations worsen, Turkey emerges as the most popular regional country among Palestinians: 43% of the Palestinians believe that Turkey is the regional country most supportive of the Palestinian cause; only 6% pointed to Iran and 5% to Syria.

Forty-seven percent of Israelis support Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to impose a 10-month freeze on construction in the settlements, while 44% oppose it — showing little change in public opinion since a poll in December 2009 shortly after the freeze was announced.

If the proximity talks fail, 65% of Palestinians endorse asking the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian State. The next most popular option (60% support) is to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state. Just over half of Palestinians polled (51%) supported non-violent resistance as a response, while 44% favored armed intifada.

Despite the increased willingness to compromise among the two sectors, neither Palestinians nor Israelis consider it likely that an independent Palestinian state will be established next to the State of Israel in the next five years. In both sectors two-thirds think that chances for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel are non-existent or slim.

Seventy-two percent of Palestinians support the boycott on products produced in settlements, but 60% oppose preventing Palestinians from working in the settlements.

Tags: Israelis, Palestinians, public opinion, settlement freeze, Turkey