Here is an interesting poll by the Truman Institute showing that Israeli public opinion has shifted somewhat against the settlements:
A survey of the Israeli general public and Israeli settlers taken in early March shows three-fifths of the Israeli public (60%) support "dismantling most of the settlements in the territories as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinians." This is eleven points higher than the previous reading (49%) taken in December, 2009, and is the highest level recorded since 2005, during the debate over evacuating the Gaza Strip.
So the good news is that Obama taps his foot, and it has an effect. Think if he put his foot down! How much would it take Netanyahu gov’t to fall? The other news is that the numbers are starkly different among the Jewish settlers. They are overwhelmingly against dismantling, and more than half of them favor some form of resistance to such an order.
The preferences of settlers and the Israeli public clash sharply: A 69 percent majority of settlers oppose dismantling most settlements as part of a peace agreement (23% in favor), while a 60 percent majority of the Israeli public support doing so, with 33% opposed. This is up sharply from plurality support of 49 to 43 percent last December.
However, the current near two-to-one Israeli public support for dismantling most settlements is misperceived by Israeli settlers, and even by the Israeli public to a lesser extent: Most settlers (57%) believe that a majority of the Israeli public oppose dismantling most settlements — the reverse from what is actually the case.
It reminds me of what Micha Kurz of Grassroots Jerusalem told me a while back, the real battle is between the Jewish dispossessors of the Palestinians and those who want to live with the Palestinians. The coexistence Jews will win in the end, but how long will that be?
