Israeli Palestinian poll, Dec. 2014

JERUSALEM— These are the results of the most recent poll conducted jointly by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah. This joint survey was conducted with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Ramallah and Jerusalem.

• Following the war in Gaza in the summer of 2014, 50 percent of Israelis and 38 percent of Palestinians support a permanent settlement package along the Clinton parameters and the Geneva Initiative. These results are lower than the figures in December 2013 when 54 percent of the Israelis and 46 percent of the Palestinians supported the package.

• Given the Gaza war and the increasing tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank, 47 percent of Israelis and 36 percent of Palestinians think that the two sides will not return to negotiations: 39 percent of the Israelis and 26 percent of the Palestinians think that the two sides will not return to negotiations and some armed attacks will take place; 8 percent of the Israelis and 10 percent of the Palestinians think that the two sides will not return to negotiations and there will be no armed attacks. By contrast, in June 2014, 28 percent of the Israelis and 16 percent of the Palestinians thought that the two sides will not return to negotiations and some armed attacks will take place and 7 percent of the Israelis and 13 percent of the Palestinians thought that the two sides will not return to negotiations and there will be no armed attacks.

• At the same time—consistent with previous results—each side perceives the other side as constituting a threat to its very existence. 58 percent of Palestinians think that Israel’s goals in the long run are to extend its borders to cover all the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and expel its Arab citizens. Twenty-four percent think the goals are to annex the West Bank while denying political rights to the Palestinians. Thirty-seven percent of the Israelis think that the Palestinian aspirations in the long run are to conquer the State of Israel and destroy much of the Jewish population in Israel; 18 percent think the goals of the Palestinians are to conquer the State of Israel.

• See in-depth findings below or at http://bit.ly/isrpal1dec14.

• See survey data at http://bit.ly/isrpal2dec14.

The Palestinian sample size was 1270 adults interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in 127 randomly selected locations between Dec. 3 and 6, 2014. The margin of error is 3 percent. The Israeli sample includes 616 adult Israelis interviewed in Hebrew, Arabic or Russian between Dec. 7 and 12, 2014. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

The poll was planned and supervised by Prof. Ifat Maoz, the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, and the Department of Communication, and Director of the Swiss Center for Conflict Research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Prof. Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR).

For further details on the Palestinian survey, contact PSR director, Prof. Khalil Shikaki, at emailpcpsr@pcpsr.org. On the Israeli survey, contact Prof Ifat Maoz at email msifat@mscc.huji.ac.il.