New York – A major new Israeli poll carried out by the Tel Aviv University Institute for Media, Society, and Politics show that only 48% of Israelis support the Gaza withdrawal plan. Researchers Dr. Yari Tsfati and Dr. Yoram Peri took the survey questioning a random sample of 519 Israelis.

Drs. Tsfati and Peri said that the survey also showed a large majority of Israelis feel that the Gaza retreat will result in increased Palestinian Arab terror against Israel. Only 25% said the retreat would bring a decline in terror.

ZOA President Morton A. Klein said, “During the last few months, Israeli polls have shown that barely half of the Israelis support this Gaza Plan. This is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that the Israeli government, the Labor opposition party, and virtually the entire Israeli media support this plan, not to mention President George Bush, the US media and all of Europe.

“With this type of universal institutional support, one would expect that 70% or more of Israelis would be convinced of the wisdom of this Plan. The fact that support hovers around the 48% to 53% level only shows how weak the support really is and how worried Israelis are about the fact that this Plan is rewarding the daily murdering and maiming of Jews by Kassam rockets, mortars, and suicide bombs, with a major concession. A recent U.S. poll has shown that 63% of Americans oppose the Gaza Plan largely because it rewards terror.

“Ever since Minister Natan Sharansky , and outgoing Chief of the IDF, Gen. Moshe Ya’alon came out against this Plan, more and more Israelis and others are having second thoughts. In fact, only this week, leading leftwing journalists from Israel’s Ha’aretz and Globus Business Report as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer have publicly changed their minds and come out against the Gaza retreat.”