Two-thirds of Israelis think peace deal won’t ever be reached — poll

Fewer than 1 in 4 say accord between Israel and Palestinians possible, but not in next 5 years; cost of living considered most pressing problem

By AFP and ToI Staff 2 October 2016, 11:25 am

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President Reuven Rivlin, right, meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during the funeral for late former president Shimon Peres at Mount Herzl Cemetery in Jerusalem, on September 30, 2016. (Mark Neyman/GPO)

Almost two-thirds of Israelis believe there will never be a peace agreement with the Palestinians, according to the results of an opinion poll published on Sunday.

Sixty-four percent of the 646 (Jewish and non-Jewish) respondents questioned said a peace accord would never be reached, in the survey conducted by the Project HaMidgam institute for the Walla news website.

Twenty-four percent believed an accord was possible but that it would take longer than five years to achieve, while four percent thought it could be attained within five years.

The remaining eight percent were undecided in the poll, whose margin of error was not published. Walla also did not say when the poll was conducted.

The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has been comatose since the collapse of a US-led initiative in April 2014.

The poll, which was published ahead of Sunday’s Jewish New Year holiday, found 56% of respondents believe life in Israel is good, and 40% expressing moderate satisfaction. Nonetheless, nearly a quarter of Israeli Jews felt an interest in emigrating from the country over the past five years, the poll showed.

Of the problems facing the country, 36% of respondents said that the cost of living was the most pressing issue, with security coming in second at 24%. Public corruption, which has been the subject of news headlines in Israel after several mayors were arrested on suspicion of bribery and corruption in the past year, was third, with 17% saying it was the most serious problem.