71% of Israeli Jews find Israeli control over the Palestinians immoral
The majority of the Jewish public (66%) thinks that there is no alternative at present.
By MAARIV ONLINEAn Israeli soldier stands guard in Hebron(photo credit: REUTERS/MUSSA QAWASMA)
A new survey by the Van Leer Institute, in cooperation with the Citizens Accord Forum and the Shaharit Institute, revealed on Thursday that 71% of the Jewish public in Israel thinks there is a moral problem with Israel's control over the Palestinians.Moreover, 78% of Israeli Jews think that control over the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria is not good for Israel.The survey, which was presented under the headline "Religious Faith, Peace and Coexistence," examined the Israeli public's stands regarding peace and the control of Israel over Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.Despite the high percentage who claim that control of the Palestinians is not good for Israel, only 12% think it should be stopped immediately, while the majority of the public (66%) thinks that there is no alternative at present.The poll also showed that 78% of the Jewish public and 93% of the Arab public in Israel agree that peace with people of other faiths is an important value in their religion, and 51% of the Jews and 72% of the Arabs agree that religious leaders representing different religions in the region should take part in making decisions related to peace."The fact that different groups in Israeli society - Jews and Arabs - do not connect to the well-known liberal peace discourse does not mean that they do not have a value-based approach to peace," said Dr. Eilon Schwartz, head of the Shaharit institute.
