Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 03/2015

The Meaning of Israeli-Palestinian Polls: What They Are Willing to Accept is Different From What They Want

Justin Scott Finkelstein

January 2015

Foreign Policy Research Institute

Abstract

As improbable as it may sound, over the past decade or so about half of Israelis and Palestinians have been willing to accept something akin to the two-state solution (as described in the box below) to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even amidst the mayhem and turmoil in the Israeli-Palestinian arena over the past several months, polls have continued to show that there is no other solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on which Israeli and Palestinian public opinion converge to such a large degree.