Half of Israelis support talks with Palestinians and more want settlement freeze

Occupation deepens with evictions, demolitions, push to legalise more settlements.

A little over half of the Israeli public would like to see a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, according to a poll commissioned from the Midgam polling firm by the NGO Geneva Initiative Israel.

When asked whether Israel should enter political talks with the Palestinian Authority, 52.8% said yes, while 31.1% said no.

Of those surveyed, 49.5% who said they voted for Likud in the last election supported such a meeting, while 36.2% opposed it.

The survey also found that most Israelis – a clear 64.2% – are prepared to accept a freeze on construction in the settlements as part of a normalisation agreement with Saudi Arabia: 60.9% of Likud voters supported such a clause, 82.4%of Yesh Atid voters, 96.1%of Labor voters, and 39.7% of Yisrael Beiteinu voters.

Despite these results, the new Israeli government is entrenching the occupation. This week saw further moves towards evictions in Masafer Yatta, which the army wants to use as a training ground; the razing of structures in Area B, in violation of the Oslo Accords; and a push for the legalisation of wildcat settlements. House demolitions over permit issues also continue.

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