A new poll has shown that a majority of the Israeli public supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repudiation of President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel freeze all Jewish construction and growth in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem by 56 percent to 37 percent. The poll, carried out by the Maagar Mohot Survey Institute headed by Professor Yitzchak Katz, also found Israelis oppose (51 percent to 34 percent) Netanyahu acceding to Obama’s reported demand that Israel abandon the settlement blocs as part of an agreement with the Palestinians (‘Maagar Mochot Poll finds Israelis want PM Netanyahu to reject President Obama’s demands,’ Independent Media & Review Analysis, June 11, 2009).

These findings are consistent with those in another June poll conducted by the Dahaf Institute, sponsored by Yediot Ahronot, which found that 53 percent of Israelis believe that President Obama’s policies are not good for Israel, as against only 26 percent who think that they are. Also, 51 percent of Israelis believed that Obama cares more about Palestinian desires for statehood than Israel’s security, as opposed to only 22 percent who believe the opposite (Gil Hoffman, ‘Poll: 26% think Obama’s policies bad for Israel,’ Jerusalem Post, June 8, 2009).

ZOA National Chairman of the Board Dr. Michael Goldblatt said, “We see here firm opposition by a clear majority of the Israeli public to the stifling the growth of Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem that has been pressed with special vigor in recent weeks by the Obama Administration. When one adds to these results the various polls that we have highlighted in recent years, showing that Israelis oppose further unilateral withdrawals and oppose major territorial concessions, including dividing Jerusalem even for the sake of a peace agreement, it is apparent that the Israeli public does not accept the present Palestinian leadership as a genuine peace partner.

“More and more Israelis have rejected the idea of handing over further territory to Mahmoud Abbas’ terror-supporting Palestinian Authority, whether unilaterally or as part of a negotiation process. The Israeli public is becoming more firmly convinced that even negotiated concessions to an unreconstructed PA are pointless and wrong when such negotiations are under present conditions incapable of leading to a genuine peace.”