Poll: 76% of Israelis favor relocating Arab citizens as part of agreement to form a Palestinian state.
By JPOST.COM STAFFBarakei 248 88(photo credit: Knesset )
A total of 76 percent of Israeli Jews give some degree of support to transferring Israeli Arabs to a future Palestinian state, a poll commissioned by the Knesset Channel revealed, Monday.
The poll, conducted over the Internet, included 668 adult Israeli Jews representing the entire political spectrum, cites a 3.7% margin of error.
The poll asked participants whether as part of an agreement to establish a Palestinian state there would be justification to demand that Arabs with Israeli citizenship relocate to Palestinian territory.
Only 24% were totally against the idea.
Of the remaining 76%, 29% said all Israeli Arabs should relocate. An additional 19% said only Arabs living in close proximity to the Palestinian state should relocate, and 28% said transfer should be decided based on loyalty or disloyalty to the State of Israel.
The data reflects Jewish Israelis' distrust of Arabs national priorities. A total of 50% said Arabs identify first and foremost with the Palestinian cause and see their Israeli loyalty as secondary, while 40% said Arabs identify solely with Palestinians, and only a single percent thought Arabs identify wholly with their Israeli identity.
Despite their belief that Arabs' right to retain their property was not obvious, 52% thought Israeli Arabs were not discriminated against by the state, while 43% said they were discriminated against and 1% remained undecided.
Hadash Chairman MK Muhammad Barakei was furious that the Knesset Channel initiated such a poll.
"The Knesset Channel should express Israeli democracy and cannot act as a private company advancing insane and racist ideology," he said.
