NEW YORK – Only a small minority of Israelis support giving up all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, a new poll has found.

The poll, conducted during August 29-31, 2004, is part of the monthly Peace Index Survey conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research of Tel Aviv University (headed by Prof. Ephraim Yaar and Prof. Tamar Hermann). The Steinmetz Center researchers interviewed a scientifically-selected sample of 575 Israeli adults, including Israeli Arabs. The margin of error is 4.5% plus or minus. The poll found:

* Only 17% Favor Giving Up All Settlements: Only 17% of Israelis think that “in the context of a final agreement” with the Palestinian Arabs, “Israel should agree to evacuate all the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.” Even when that statement was softened to refer to “most of the settlements there,” it was supported by a total of only 32%.

* Only 29% Willing to Give Up Kiryat Arba: Only 29% of Israelis would be willing to surrender Kiryat Arba, which is next to Hebron, even in exchange for a “final agreement” with the Palestinian Arabs.

* Only 21.5% Willing to Give Up Gush Etzion: Only 21.5% of Israelis would be willing to surrender the towns in the Gush Etzion bloc, between Bethlehem and Hebron, even in exchange for a “final agreement” with the Palestinian Arabs.

* Only 19.5% Willing to Give up Jordan Valley: Only 19.5% of Israelis would be willing to surrender the town in the Jordan Valley, near the Israel-Jordan border, even in exchange for a “final agreement” with the Palestinian Arabs.

Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), commented: “These poll results shatter the myth that most Israelis favor tearing down all the Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria. Even when Israeli Arabs are included in the poll, and even when the respondents were offered a ‘final peace agreement’ in exchange, only a small minority support the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Judea and Samaria.”