Poll: majority of Palestinians expect failure of negotiations

The most recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) revealed that 43.7% of Palestinians oppose the invitation of the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to president Mahmoud Abbas to address the Knesset.

Dr. Nabil Kukali, director of the PCPO in Bethlehem, said in a press statement that the majority of Palestinians feel that the ongoing negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, launched on July 30, have reached an impasse and have to be halted, especially in light of the persistent Israeli violation and the continuation of settlement construction.

He further added that the majority of the Palestinian public expects the failure of these negotiations, as they have achieved no progress throughout the eight successive rounds in Washington.

Dr. Kukali also revealed that “a majority of the Palestinians anticipate a new military confrontation with Israel, and are therefore worried about the possible occurrence of such a confrontation.”

The poll showed that about 49.9 percent of the Palestinians support the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel, while 23 per cent expressed their opposition to it. 74.3 per cent of those surveyed expect another military confrontation with Israel, while 25.5 per cent said they do not expect such a confrontation.

While 51.3 % of the Palestinian public opposed the continuation of the negotiations with the Israelis, 33.6 % supported their continuation. 57.4 % of the Palestinian public said that the continuation of negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli side will not lead to peace between the two parties in the coming years.

57.7 % of the Palestinians anticipate the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the nine months term allocated for their conclusion, whilst only 19.9 % anticipate their success.

19.8 % of those surveyed said they think that the two parties, the Israelis and the Palestinians, will be able to forge this time a permanent deal that would put an end to their conflict, 54.1 % said they do not think so.