Poll: West Bank Palestinians split on whether Israel has right to exist, could be eliminated

West Bank Palestinians are split on whether Israel has a right to exist, and whether its existence could be brought to an end at some point, according to a survey conducted by Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies.

The poll finds that 41% of respondents say Israel has a right to exist, compared with 46% who say it does not. In a separate question, 42% say they believe it would be possible to bring about the end of Israel’s existence, either in the near or distant future. Conversely, 32% say ending Israel’s existence is impossible.

Asked about resolving the conflict with Israel, 52% say they prefer negotiations as the best means of ending the conflict, compared with 13% who favor unarmed popular resistance and 12% who chose armed resistance.

Fifty-seven percent agreed with the statement that violent struggle had failed and that Palestinians should instead focus on diplomatic efforts in the international arena.

No proposed political framework for resolving the conflict receives majority support. Twenty-seven percent favor a two-state solution; 22% support a single binational state with full equal rights; 26% favor a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea” — encompassing all of what they consider “historic Palestine” — with no permanent Jewish presence; and 17% favor a Palestinian state throughout the entire territory in which Jews would be permitted to live as citizens or residents.

Regarding the future of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, 40% of respondents say the terror group should disarm, though fewer than half of those respondents believe it would actually agree to do so.

The most popular option for the future administration of the Gaza Strip is a technocratic government — the existing, US-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — selected by 32% of respondents. Twenty-one percent favored the Palestinian Authority, which governs West Bank Palestinian population centers, another 21% favor a Fatah-Hamas unity government, and just 5% choose Hamas.

In a question asking respondents whom they would prefer to succeed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, nearly half — 44% — say they do not know or declined to answer.

Among respondents who express a clear preference, Marwan Barghouti, who is serving multiple life sentences in Israeli prison for his role in planning deadly terror attacks, leads the field by a wide margin, with 34% support. Hussein al-Sheikh, Abbas’s deputy, receives 8%.

Respondents identify unemployment and livelihood concerns (97%), settler violence (96%) and IDF operations in the West Bank (91%) as among the most significant problems they face. In addition, 60% report a low or very low sense of personal security.

A 53% majority say US President Donald Trump is not at all committed to Palestinian interests.

The survey was conducted by telephone between June 27 and July 2, 2026, among a sample of 400 Palestinian respondents in the West Bank. The margin of error is 4.9%.