More than two in three Israeli Arabs would be content living in the Jewish state if there were a neighboring Palestinian state, a poll found. According to a Haifa University survey released this week, 67.5 percent of Israeli Arabs would approve of the country being a democratic Jewish nation-state on condition that it existed in the pre-1967 borders alongside a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, 76 percent of Arab respondents also described Zionism as racist. The findings appeared to suggest that a slew of anti-Zionist manifestos by Israeli Arab organizations do not have sweeping popular backing.
But the rhetoric of Arab leaders appears to have made an impact among Jews. The poll found that 68.4 of Israeli Jews fear their Arab counterparts will wage a campaign of civil disobedience to challenge the country’s constitutional framework. Fear of a Jewish backlash is felt among Arabs. Sixty-two percent of Israeli Arabs are concerned that their main towns in central Israel will be ceded to a future Palestinian state, while 60 percent believe they could be deported. The poll had 1,423 Jewish and Arab respondents.
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