Poll: most Israelis shun deal on 1967 borders

Recent polls show that the majority of Israelis would oppose any peace deal with the Palestinians that involved withdrawing to pre-1967 ceasefire lines, although this would allow Israel to keep illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. This survey, conducted by the liberal Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) and Tel Aviv University, shows 65.6 percent of people did not expect to see any prospective compromise between Israel and the Palestinians within a year. Negotiations resumed last month after a three-year lapse. Of the 602 people questioned, 55.5 percent said they were against Israel agreeing to the 1967 lines. Among Israel's majority Jewish population, opposition to such an agreement was 63 percent, while among Palestinian citizens of Israel only 15 percent objected to such a deal. When asked whether Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem should become part of a Palestinian state, 50 percent of Israeli Jews said they were against the idea. 55 percent of Israeli Arabs were for the idea. Isrelis were also against compensating the refugees or their descendants financially. After an opening round of talks in Washington a week ago, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to meet again during the second week of August. In a statement on Tuesday, both the Popular and the Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine called for the talks to be suspended, denouncing them as "a repetition of pointless and harmful negotiations" held since the early 1990s.