Jewish Israelis appear to have broken through a long-held taboo by indicating that they believe in the transfer of Arabs from the Israeli-administered territories.
According to the results of a poll published in The Jerusalem Post Friday, 49 percent of Jewish Israeli adults believe that transfer of the Arab population of the Israeli-administered territories would allow the democratic and Jewish nature of Israel to be maintained.
Of that 49 percent, nearly two out of three said they intended to vote for the Likud party over Labor.
This most recent poll was conducted in late June as part of a continuing survey by the Israeli Institute of Applied Social Research and Communication Institute of the Hebrew University. The results indicate that the subject of transferring Arabs from the administered territories is no longer taboo. According to a front-page article in Friday’s Jerusalem Post, the word “transfer” was virtually unmentionable until a few months ago.
The timing of the change in the willingness of Israelis to even consider the subject of transfer seems to run parallel with the Palestinian uprising.
The respondents were not asked directly if they favor transfer, but “if the territories remain under Israeli rule, what should be done to preserve the democratic character of the state?”
Of those asked, 21 percent were in favor of “giving rights to Arabs,” 49 percent favored causing “Arabs to leave (transfer),” 28 percent favored the alternative to “relinquish territories,” and 3 percent did not think that democratic character was important.
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