Israeli Settlements: Majority Of Israelis Against Obama's Demand To Freeze All Construction: Poll

Nearly six of every 10 Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resist U.S. demands to completely freeze construction in Jewish West Bank settlements, according to a new poll released Friday.

The poll by the Maagar Mohot Polling Institute comes just ahead of Netanyahu's major policy speech on Sunday that is expected to address a growing divide with Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants to aggressively pursue Mideast peacemaking, and the halt of all building on land the Palestinians claim for their future state has been a key U.S. demand.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said Netanyahu should not consent to the American demand to halt all settlement construction, as opposed to 37 percent who said he should. Fifty percent said failure to comply would not provoke a crisis with the U.S., while 32 percent said they thought the settlement freeze was a make or break issue for Washington.

Maagar Mohot also found in a separate poll that two-thirds of Israelis have little appetite for dismantling West Bank settlements. Thirty-six percent oppose any evacuation as part of a final peace deal and 30 percent said only a small number should be dismantled.

Both surveys polled 503 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in 121 West Bank settlements and more than 100 wildcat settler enclaves.

The Palestinians want the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip for a future state, and see settlement building as a major obstacle to that aspiration. The U.S. has opposed settlement construction for decades, but Obama has been especially forceful in the early months of his presidency in demanding a settlement freeze.

He also has been pressing Netanyahu to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, something the Israeli leader has refused to do.

Netanyahu is expected to try to placate Washington in his policy address on Sunday. He will have to execute a delicate balancing act because he doesn't want any overtures to the U.S. to splinter his hawkish coalition.

Comments

[gbrooks]

I'm sure that when people get used to obtaining everything they have through theft and violence, it's pretty tough to give that up. I'd be cranky too.

[RobertHenryEller]

Not one more brick.

[LeeCalif]

Israelis never had any boundaries enforced on them before ........

Meanwhile from IPS Press ........
On Sunday afternoon, Israeli sources said Palestinian militants fired a rocket from northern Gaza at an area near the port city of Ashkelon, causing no damage or casualties. No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, four Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli aerial bombing which targeted smuggling tunnels under Gaza-Egypt border, local sources said.

Israeli F-16 jets dropped several bombs along the border line in southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, destroying entry shafts of five underground tunnels, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli soldiers after they detonated an explosive device near an Israeli army jeep patrolling the security fence between Israel and central Gaza Strip, security sources said.

Palestinian rocket attacks have largely decreased after Israel ended a military offensive in the Palestinian salient on Jan. 18 as Hamas maintained a level of self-restraint.

[Sentientbeing09]

What has this to do with freezing settlements?

[sixx]

A majority of Israelis voted in the last election to continue annexation of the West Bank. Why would they have changed?

[Martampa]

Yeah and I would bet that a majority of Americans are against giving Israel the 3 billion dollars a year in foreign aid we give them.

[LeeCalif]

Wish it was only 3 B.

[mizerello]

This article is very misleading. What the writer (and it is not sourced) does not report is that the poll was commissioned by the right wing "Ariel University Center of Samaria," a college based in the West Bank, headed by former Likud Foreign Minister Moshe Arens.

"Following the speech last week, Arens, an avowed proponent of the settler movement, told Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, "We must strengthen the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria even beyond their natural growth rates.”

Clearly Arens, his university and its pollster are seeking to advance the agenda of the settler movement.

Just last week, a Dahaf Institute poll following President Obama's speech in Cairo indicated that 56% of Israelis believe Netanyahu should "acquiesce to Obama's demands."

The Dahaf poll also indicated that 70% believe illegal outposts should be evacuated, 52% believe settlement construction should be freeze, and 55% believe Israel should agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state. "

Courtesy of Israeli Policy Forum.Org

[Mister Wu]

What percent of Americans think we should stop all Israel foreign aid?

[who38]

Good question. Bet every polling service is afraid to touch that question.

[arle]

Of course! That would spell an instant law suit by the ADL before you could scream "Kristalnacht!"

[Countdown09]

""Nearly six of every 10 Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resist U.S. demands to completely freeze construction in Jewish West Bank settlements""

WELL, I'll take a guess that nearly six in 10 American's are fed up with the enormous cost (in $$ and middle east conflict) for our relationship with the stubborn people of Israel.

[ebanks84]

These people seem to care nothing about others and want what they want only. They are acting very selfish and inconsiderate of their neighbors. It seems they don't really want peace. It's amazing how a people who have suffered much can be so selfish in return. Something is very wrong with people who act this way. It's like they haven't learned anything from the Holocaust other than greed. What a shame!

[Realization]

They also act very selfish and inconsiderate of the U.S. Rephrased, they act in their own interests. And history clearly shows that the U.S. will not take a tough line to act in its interests - which are far different from those of Israel. Since we are dupes, it's hard to blame them in a way. But it's past time that we stand our ground. The way to defuse a lot of anti-Americanism and Islamic fundamentalism (it won't go away but won't be directed so much at us) is to force a just settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Should have been done long ago. I say force because it has always been clear that Israel doesn't really want peace.

Solve this one and who know what good will come of it? It would certainly help contain Iran. Maybe With us moving out of the "colonial imperialist" slot, maybe Islamic fundamentalists would realize that their real problem is China, which is moving huge numbers of Han Chinese into its western regions that are Islamic. And China doesn't treat the Muslims equally by any means. Now that is colonization. Just thought I would mention it.

[who38]

Think your Congresspeople are up to that? Mine aren't either.

[Martampa]

USA = enabler.

[haval2]

The poll is bogus and most israelis want a two state solution, and end to war and simply, peace.

[KarlaElisa]

I agree haval....I'm not buying these polling numbers at all. Just more Israeli spin set adrift.

There are GOOD people in Israel that recognize their Gov't has been as barbaric as the GOOD people in the US saw the same corruption of our Gov't under Bush.

Still, I say cut the funds entirely. No cash, no loans, no weapons until we have full compliance. That is NOT Israel's land with which to barter.

[mamacat]

Peace in the Middle East is being held for ransom by a few hundred thousand Israeli land grabbers. How would they feel if a militarily superior force took land away from Israel, and settled their people on Israeli land? They might go to war to prevent such a thing, or, if it did happen, they might once again resort to terrorism, as they did against the British and the Palestinians before the declaration of the existence of the State of Israel in 1948. Harsh words, but blowing up innocents in hotels, as the most extreme Israelis did, qualifies as terrorism by any objective standard.

Pres. Carter brokered peace between Egypt and Israel, by getting the Israelis to evict the settlers in the Sinai, and by returning the land they had taken from Egypt in the wars. Egypt did not have to agree to allow Israel to dictate its foreign policy, or to station troops on Egyptian territory.

The price for peace in the Middle East is the return of the land Israelis have taken in past wars.

[fbr79]

President Carter was just lucky that Egypt had Sadat. Who do the Palestinians have?

[janpradder]

I say kick Israel out of the "U.S." -- it isn't a state, it does not want to work with the U.S. for peace.
Kick them out.

[arle]

I'd say kick them out of the UN first. You don't get to sit at the adult's table if you're going to violate dozens upon dozens of UN resolutions.

[mrh3]

Is this the bogus poll that was taken by Israel's only settlement university.

[jordanispalestine]

no!

[Sentientbeing09]

It is im afraid.

Its already been debunked.

[who38]

No. I am sure that it reflects the position of more than 56% of Israelis.

[Sentientbeing09]

Yes it is:

"The pro-Israel group J Street on Friday blasted a poll released earlier this week that said a majority of Israelis are against a settlement freeze, calling the poll 'politically motivated and distorted'"

"J Street's statement read: "Today's quasi-poll, sponsored by Ariel University Center, the only settlement university, and published only in the clear rightist Makor Rishon-Hatzofe newspaper and not in any mainstream Hebrew press, is a good example of the half-truths and lies that will be injected into the debate. The politically motivated and distorting wording of the poll questions is clear to anyone who reads them.""

Source:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1092454.htmll,]

[postman66]

I've had it with Israel.

[jordanispalestine]

israel has had it with you,too! the wedding is off!!

[Theou]

jis[not]
Will you be returning the dowry i.e. the billions in aid and [inevitably forgiven] "loans"
received over the years by Israel?

[who38]

Hear, hear. And trust me, very few US Congresspeople have had it with Israel.

[Countdown09]

Hear hear, I think allot of American's have had it with Israel. They don't seem to care what so ever the cost we pay for their stubbornness. It's time they do care and it's time our President MAKE THEM CARE.

[Mark Twaine]

Let us remember what the result of a poll taken in the 1950's South would have revealed about rights of blacks. Polls measure prejudices. They don't measure justice.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

True all the way.

Why would Israeli be against taking someone else's land and expanding upon it. Of course they are for greed and theft if it benefits them. Of course!

I would bet 100% of Palestinians are against all settlements.

[CigarGod]

Unfortunately, their religion justifies taking the land.
There is no way to win against that.