Nearly two-thirds of American Jews support Israel’s plan to leave Gaza and some settlements in the West Bank, a new poll finds.
The poll found that in addition to 62 percent of those surveyed supporting the current disengagement plan put forth by Israel, a plurality of Jews (41 percent) believe both that Israel should be willing to withdraw from most Jewish settlements in the West Bank and that Israel should allow a token number of Palestinian refugees to return to parts of Israel that they had left.
The survey was released as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited President Bush at his Crawford, Texas ranch. Bush and Sharon disagree on some specifics of a disengagement plan, but Sharon has pledged to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza.
Seventy percent of U.S. Jews said that Israel should be willing to accept a Palestinian state, the poll found. But only 24 percent said that even with a signed peace agreement, “the great majority of Palestinians are prepared to live in peace with Israelis.”
(RNS)
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