Despite the hostile political rhetoric that the Israeli right adopts towards the Palestinians and its expansion of Jewish settlements, a new opinion poll showed a growing support for a “two-state solution”, among voters for the ruling right-wing parties and even among the extreme right-wing.
The poll was conducted at the Midgam Polling Institute in Tel Aviv, in favor of the Geneva Initiative. Respondents had to choose one of three proposed solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: First, the two-state solution, meaning Israel and the state of Palestine next to it; second, the one-state solution with equal rights for the two peoples; and third, the one-state solution, but with incomplete rights for the Palestinians.
The results showed that 42% of the Israelis still support the two-state solution, 14% are in favor of the one-state solution with deficient rights for the Palestinians, while 13% voted for the one-state solution with full and equal rights.
An analysis of the results based on political affiliation reflected a growing support to the two-state solution among right-wing parties. The two-state solution was supported by 57 percent of the voters of the Russian Jewish “Yisrael Beiteinu” party headed by Avigdor Lieberman, while 21 percent voted for the one-state solution with equal rights, and seven percent the one-state solution with incomplete rights for the Palestinians.
Similarly, the two-state solution was endorsed by 44.3 percent of the voters for the New Hope party headed by the right-wing Gideon Saar, which broke away from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while 14 percent supported the one-state solution with equal rights, and 13 percent with incomplete rights for the Palestinians.
Moreover, the two-state solution was also braced by 31 percent of voters for the Likud party led by Netanyahu, 30 percent in favor of a one-state solution with equal rights, and 23 percent without equal rights. Thirty-one percent of voters for the Yamina party headed by Naftali Bennett backed the two-state solution, while 31 percent of them said they support a one-state solution with equal rights for the Israelis and Palestinians.
