5/17/2004

Ha'aretz reports on a deeply troubling poll of Israeli Jews: Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll. In 1991, 38 percent of Israel's Jewish population was in favor of transferring the Palestinians out of the territories while 24 percent supported transferring Israeli Arabs.When the question of transfer was posed in a more roundabout way, 60 percent of respondents said that they were in favor of encouraging Israeli Arabs to leave the country. This is the tragic parallel to the more frequently-conducted polls demonstrating Palestinian support for suicide bombings. Majorities on both sides, polls continue to show, would support a similar negotiated settlement, but majorities on each side, convinced that there is no partner for peace on the other, are willing to justify horrendous acts of violence in the interim.

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