Most Jerusalemite Palestinians would prefer becoming Israeli citizens over citizens of a future Palestinian State. PHOTO: Channel 2 News.

Most Palestinian Arab residents of Jerusalem would prefer Israeli citizenship over citizenship in a future Palestinian state, according to a recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.

Fifty-two percent of those polled said they would prefer to have Israeli citizenship with equal rights to Israeli Jews, and only 42 percent said they would prefer to be citizens of a future Palestinian State, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.

Preference for Israeli citizenship rose significantly from the last poll on the subject, conducted five years ago, in which only one third said they would prefer to be Israelis.

In previous polls, the reasons given for preferring Israeli citizenship included better job opportunities and better health services and health care benefits. Of respondents, 47 percent said they would prefer to work in an Israeli workplace, even if it meant having to change their lifestyles.

By contrast, just 4 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and 12 percent in the Gaza Strip said they were interested in Israeli citizenship.

The poll was conducted in June, and was based on opinions collected from 504 personal interviews. The survey claims a 4.5 percent margin of error.