A new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Palestinians – 62% – oppose the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Western Wall remaining in Israeli hands in any future peace agreement, even if Jerusalem is divided between Israel and a Palestinian state and a Palestinian capital established in the eastern part of the city. Only 37% of Palestinians support such a division, under which the rest of Jerusalem Old City (including the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site) would come under Palestinian sovereignty.

The poll, conducted by jointly by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, between June 6 and 16, 2010, also found that:

·        67% of Palestinians support the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, which insists on total Israel withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines, thereby relinquishing, not only eastern Jerusalem with its holiest Jewish sites, but also all of Judea and Samaria, the strategically vital Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights. It also insists on the legally-baseless so-called ‘right of return’ in accordance with the non-binding 1948 UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which would mean millions of Arabs being permitted to move into Israel proper, rendering impossible Israel’s continued existence as a Jewish state.

·        57% of Palestinians oppose the creation of a Palestinian state in which, while possessing sovereignty over its land, water, and airspace, Israel would retain the right to use Palestinian airspace for training purposes, and would maintain two early warning stations in Judea and Samaria for 15 years. Only 41% of Palestinians support this idea (Joint Israeli Palestinian Poll, June 2010)

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “These results show that whatever ideas may be proposed to create a peace settlement, Palestinians clearly are not prepared to even sign an agreement with Israel that does not deprive Israel and the Jewish people of sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest shrines. They also insist on deal breaking conditions that would drastically affect Israeli security, such as depriving Israel of airspace and early warning stations for even a limited, 15-year period, the ‘right of return’ and other non-starters. Coupled with the finding of numerous other polls showing Palestinian rejection of Israel’s existence and support for terrorism against her, it is clear Palestinian society is not willing to make a genuine peace with Israel.”