Poll: Israelis oppose unilateral withdrawal from West Bank, split on annexation

TAU/IDI poll finds 49% of Israeli Jews and 72% of Israeli Arabs disagree with idea that Israel should annex areas important to it for settlement and security in the West Bank.

By LAHAV HARKOV
West Bank settlement of Maale Efrayim in the Jordan Valley. (photo credit: REUTERS/ Baz Ratner)
West Bank settlement of Maale Efrayim in the Jordan Valley.
(photo credit: REUTERS/ Baz Ratner)
Half of Israeli Jews oppose annexing parts of the West Bank, but almost the same amount would back such a move, according to the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University’s monthly Peace Index Poll, published Thursday.
The poll showed 49 percent of Israeli Jews and 72% of Israeli Arabs disagree with the idea that “Israel should officially annex the areas that are important to it for settlement and security in Judea and Samaria,” but 43% of Israeli Jews and 18% of Israeli Arabs agree with the statement.
Over half (55%) of those who advocate annexation self-identified as right wing, while 33% said they’re centrist and 22% were on the left.
Most Israeli Jews (60%) oppose unilateral withdrawal from substantial parts of the West Bank, while 25% support it. The opposite trend exists with Israeli Arabs; 68% favor it and 21% oppose. Of those who favor unilateral withdrawal, 77% are left-wing.
Despite indications that the US blames Israel for failed peace talks, 64% of Israelis do not think the US is scaling back its support for Israel. Half of Israelis (51%) believe that Israel would not be able to withstand a significant reduction of US support, but 70% of right-wing Israelis think the opposite.
The vast majority of Israelis do not sympathize with “price-tag” attacks, but the percentage opposing them varies, depending on which minority the attacks target: 73% against churches, 67% against mosques, 64% against the property of Israeli Arabs and 59% against Palestinian property in the West Bank.
Most Israeli Jews (67%) believe that the police is making a real effort to apprehend the perpetrators of “price-tag” crimes, but less than half of Israeli Arabs (48%) agree.
As for ongoing debates on the defense budget, 48% of Israelis agree with the Finance Ministry that the defense budget was recently increased and any further expansion would cut into welfare services. A third of Israelis (35%) agree with the Defense Ministry that increases are needed because of the threats Israel faces.
The survey was conducted last week, polling 605 respondents who constitute a representative sample of the adult population of Israel. The margin of error is 4.1 percentage points.