Poll shows most Israelis support Palestinian state
Associated Press
Tuesday May 14, 4:10 am Eastern Time
JERUSALEM (AP) -- More than six out of 10 Israelis support a Palestinian state and strongly favor the current prime minister, Ariel Sharon, over his leading rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel's leader, according to an opinion poll released Tuesday.
The Dahaf Institute poll was taken Monday, hours after Sharon, who heads the hardline Likud party, suffered a humiliating blow at his party's central committee meeting. Likud delegates voted overwhelmingly to oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, now and in the future. Netanyahu was a leading backer of the resolution, while Sharon opposed it.
The poll, published in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, showed the defeat may not have hurt Sharon, with 63 percent supporting his position that a Palestinian state should be established in the framework of a future peace agreement.
Sharon has laid out strict guidelines for the formation of such a state and continues to support the Jewish settlements that dot the West Bank and Gaza Strip, land Palestinians want for a future state. Sharon recently said he was not prepared to discuss the possibility of dismantling of any settlements, something the Palestinians see as essential to any peace deal.
The poll found that 55 percent of all Israelis and 54 percent of Likud voters want Sharon to be the right-wing party's candidate for prime minister, while 23 percent of Israelis and 35 percent of Likud voters support Netanyahu, the former premier.
The poll surveyed 501 Israelis and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
Although the Likud central committee almost unanimously opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state at Sunday's meeting, the poll in Yediot Ahronot found 43 percent of Likud voters support such an entity. Fifty-one percent were opposed.
A visibly upset Sharon told delegates after the vote he would continue to lead Israel toward peace and security. The crowd booed and jeered him as he quickly departed.
Israeli political commentators said Sharon's defeat may have done more damage to Netanyahu, who they said came out looking like a petty politician.
Yediot Ahronot reported that some 1,500 of the 2,500 members of the Likud central committee did not even show up at Sunday's meeting, attributing it to their disgust with the "destructive confrontation" between Netanyahu and Sharon.
But analysts noted that the central committee meeting showed Sharon faces a serious challenge from the right, led by Netanyahu, who hopes to return to power in the next election, which much take place by November 2003.
Netanyahu dismissed the commentators and the latest poll.
"The public simply is not aware of the danger of such a state," he told Israel Radio. "If someone who fights against this danger and against making terrible historic mistakes that will cost us a great deal in the future is defined as a politician, then I will wear this tag proudly."
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