PA President Mahmoud Abbas (right) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

While most Israelis are in favor of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), an overwhelming number does not believe it will lead to a lasting peace, a new survey by revealed.

According to the the Israel Democracy Institute’s April 2016 Peace Index, 60.1 percent of the general public in Israel are moderately and strongly in favor of conducting peace negotiations between Israel and the PA. However, 74.2% of the general public moderately and fully do not believe at all that negotiations will lead to peace in the coming years.

The results, when broken down further between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, show a wider divide between the two populations in support of negotiations — with 57.9% of Jews strongly and moderately in favor of negotiations with the PA, compared to 71.4% of Arabs.

While in favor of negotiations, an overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews — 77.6% — moderately or fully do not believe in a positive outcome for negotiations. Among the Israeli Arab population, the divide is less stark, with 36.9% of Arabs strongly or moderately believing negotiations will lead to peace, compared to 56.9% who do not.

Against the backdrop of the recent wave of terror in Israel, Jews are almost evenly divided on the appropriateness of restarting political negotiations with the PA, with 48.9% responding it is not so appropriate or fully not appropriate, compared to 43.9% believing it is moderately and very appropriate.

When asked which was more important, that a peace agreement be reached with the PA or that Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people, 48.2% of Jews said the latter is the most important.

Source: Israel Democracy Institute.

The Peace Index is a longitudinal study that tracks Israeli public opinion on a host of political and social topics each month. Results of the April 2016 survey are based on a sample size of 600 respondents.