Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumPOLL: Israelis Overwhelmingly Back Arab Peace Initiative
Israelis would strongly support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he attempted to engage with the Arab Leagues proposal for a two-state solution, according to Al-Monitor, which reported the new poll results on Tuesday.
The Arab Peace Initiative, debuted in 2002 and reaffirmed by Arab states in 2007, sets up a basic peace framework in which Israel would withdraw from all territories acquired in 1967 and 1973 and provide a just settlement for refugees in exchange for recognition and normal diplomatic relations with all Arab states, including an independent Palestine. While the Initiatives provisions are not specific enough to constitute a full deal, the document is designed to serve as a guiding framework from which a more detailed final status agreement can be hammered out. For instance, the Arab League has recently signaled that it would support land swaps as a substitute for full Israeli withdrawal from its 1967 and 1973 acquisitions.
Israelis have historically been skeptical of the Arab Leagues seriousness, but the new polling numbers suggest Israelis are willing to give the deal a chance. Once the contours of the deal were explained to respondents, 55 percent of Israelis said they would support implementing it to some degree. By contrast, a scant 27 percent strongly oppose the deal and 17.5 percent werent sure how they fell about it.
Perhaps most interestingly, Israelis would strongly support efforts by their prime minister to pursue the Arab Leagues deal. A vast majority 69 percent of Israelis would approve of Netanyahu adopting the Arab Peace Initiative framework and used it to come to final terms with the Palestinians and Arab states more broadly. Only 18 percent would strongly oppose such a move. While Netanyahus response to recent Arab overtures has been cagey, he cannot avoid taking a position on the Peace Initiative indefinitely: a petition signed by 52 Knesset members legally forces him to address the legislature on the issue.
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http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/05/28/2065971/poll-israelis-back-arab-peace-initiative/?mobile=nc
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)It's not like their proposal comes anywhere close to Netanyahu's arrogant demands, after all.
If you're willing to admit that he's wrong and his demands are damaging, that's a good sign.
shira
(30,109 posts)Israel has absolutely nothing to lose going into negotiations on the API.
Of course, the chances of a deal happening are around zero...