Israel Matzav

'Most Israelis support J'lem concessions'

As Yogi (Berra - not my friend and my daughter's shadchan, Yogi in Neve Tsuf) would say, "it's deja vu all over again." How many times have we heard 'polls' that indicate how Israelis are 'willing to make concessions in Jerusalem.' Forgetting for a minute how unreliable the polls here are, you have to look at the way these things are phrased. In other words, the headline is so theoretical as to be utterly meaningless:

A recent study shows that 63 percent of Israelis are willing to make concessions on the borders of Jerusalem in exchange for "real peace" with the Palestinians. Of them, 54% are willing to relinquish Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, but not in the Old City, the Jewish Quarter or the Western Wall, according to the study by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.

Seventy-five percent of those who said they would be willing to make concessions for peace admitted they did not believe that real peace with the Palestinians was a possibility. [In other words, at most, about 15-16% of Israelis are willing to make concessions on the borders of Jerusalem today. And of those it may be that more than half would not make concessions on the Old City, the Jewish Quarter or the Western Wall (although given that the 15-16% is likely our lunatic fringe, I would not bet on 54% of them being opposed to such concessions). And if the poll is reflective of Israel's demography, about 20% of those polled were Arabs. Can someone please explain to me what the point of this 'study' is? CiJ].

The study, which examined the public's attitude toward the option of the re-division of Jerusalem on a demographic basis, found that 39% of Israelis are unwilling to make any concessions on the boundaries of Jerusalem.

The majority of those who said they would make concessions for peace identified themselves as traditional or secular Israelis as opposed to those who considered themselves to be ultra orthodox. [I wonder if this study broke down the numbers of Jerusalem residents willing to make 'concessions' as opposed to residents of other areas (like North Tel Aviv). Israelis have a sever case of NIMBY Syndrome. I have always said that I am willing to give up Sheikh Munis for peace :-) Those of you who don't know what it is, Google Sheikh Munis and you will find out. CiJ]

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:03 PM