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.
