Israeli support for a two-state solution, in which a Palestinian state would be established alongside Israel, has fallen to an all-time low of 21% in a Pew survey that showed support for the idea at 50% as recently as 2013.
Pew reported (original emphasis):
We find that 21% of Israeli adults think Israel and a Palestinian state can coexist peacefully – the lowest percentage since we began asking this question in 2013. This share is down 14 percentage points since spring 2023, several months before the Israel-Hamas war started.
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Israelis see several things as at least minor obstacles to peace: the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, conflict between the left and right in Israeli politics, and conflict between Hamas and Fatah on the Palestinian side.
But the most frequently cited obstacle is a lack of trust between Israelis and Palestinians. Three-quarters of Israelis call this a major obstacle to lasting peace.
The poll corroborates recent results from other polls, such as Gallup, which showed in late 2023 that only 25% of Israelis supported a two-state solution in the wake of the October 7, 2023, terror attacks by Hamas (which large majorities of Palestinians supported, according to polling data).
“One in four Israeli adults currently support the existence of an independent Palestinian state, while most (65%) oppose it,” Gallup wrote. “This is almost a complete reversal of where they stood on the issue a decade ago, when twice as many Israeli adults supported an independent Palestinian state (61%) as opposed one (30%).”
The precipitous decline in support for a two-state solution coincided with the Obama administration’s push for Israeli concessions to Palestinians; the Iran nuclear deal, which provided funding for Hamas and other terrorist groups, indirectly; and several wars launched by Hamas against Israel, starting in 2014, with a brief pause during the first Trump administration, followed by dramatic escalation in the Biden administration.
