Just 36% of Israelis either “strongly” or “somewhat” agree that the government formed after the election should try to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Israel Democracy Institute’s Voice of Israel Index for the month of September.
Among Jewish Israelis that number is just 31%, while among Arab Israelis it is 60%, the survey found.
The numbers among both Jews and Arabs were down from a similar survey in February 2021, when 50% of Israelis believed that the government should try to advance the two-state solution – 44% Jewish and 79% Arab.
The data was published a day after Prime Minister Yair Lapid claimed in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday that most Israelis supported the two-state solution. The current survey shows that a strong majority believes that this is not relevant for the next government.
Do Israelis think Israel can thwart a nuclear Iran without US help?
The survey also asked Israelis whether the country should carry out a military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities even without American agreement, with almost half (49%) answering that they “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that Israel should do so. This includes 55% of Jewish Israelis and 17% of Arab Israelis, the survey found.
Are Israelis optimistic about the New Year?
Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, respondents were also asked what they thought the new Hebrew year will be like for the nation.
Among Jewish Israelis, 31% said that the year will be “much better” or “a little better” than the previous one. The exact same percentage said that the coming year would be similar to last year, 18% said it would be “a little” or “a lot” worse than last year, and 20% said they didn’t know.
Among Arab Israelis, however, just 20% believed the coming year would be much or a little better than last year, 23% said it would be the same – and 36% said it would be worse, nearly double the percentage in response to a similar question asked last year.
Finally, asked about their attitudes regarding the future of democratic rule in Israel, 46% of the respondents said that they were optimistic, versus just 20% who said they were pessimistic.