[IsraelTimes] New survey shows just 17% of Israelis and 21% of Palestinians in West Bank and East Jerusalem see path to peaceful two-state outcome; respondents cite land, security and deep distrust
A large majority of Paleostinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and a majority of Israelis say they do not believe Israel and an independent Paleostinian state can coexist peacefully, according to a new Pew survey.
Just 17% of Israelis said they believed a path to peaceful coexistence could be found, compared with 56% who said it could not. Among Paleostinians surveyed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, 21% said coexistence was possible, while 68% said it was not.
The Israeli result is a low point in more than a decade of Pew polling on the issue. The share saying coexistence was possible had already fallen to its lowest level in 2025 and remained roughly unchanged in 2026.
The year 2026 was the first time that more than half of Israeli respondents explicitly said it was impossible.
Among Jewish Israelis, 16% said a two-state solution was possible, while 64% said it was not. Among Arab Israelis, 46% either said they did not know or declined to answer, while 23% said peaceful coexistence was possible and 26% said it was not.
Pew surveyed 1,001 people in Israel and 1,038 Paleostinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israeli interviews were conducted from April 5 to May 6, while Paleostinian interviews took place from March 30 to April 28, in Hebrew and Arabic.
The fieldwork coincided with the Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
war, beginning while fighting was still underway and continuing after an initial ceasefire was declared on April 7. Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
was not included because Pew said it was unable to conduct fieldwork there.
THOSE WHO STILL SEE A PATH TO PEACE
Among the relatively small shares on both sides who believed coexistence remained possible, Pew found that respondents often cited a desire for peace, a belief that an eventual agreement was unavoidable, and the need for compromise and greater trust.
Some respondents argued that Israelis and Paleostinians would ultimately have to find a way to live alongside one another. "Neither side is going from here. It is necessary to learn to live together," a 57-year-old Jewish Israeli man told Pew.
A 29-year-old Jewish Israeli man said, "We need to find the path to peace for the sake of our children and their children," while a 43-year-old Paleostinian man from the West Bank or East Jerusalem said, "We have no choice but to coexist and find another solution."
Paleostinian respondents who remained optimistic often pointed to the practical advantages of an agreement, including improved economic conditions, while some recalled earlier periods when relations were better. One 18-year-old Paleostinian woman said, "We complement each other in work, trade and security, so that we may live together."
Others said an agreement would require both sides to alter their positions, restore confidence in one another or undergo political change. Some Israeli respondents called for greater moderation on both sides, while some Paleostinians and Arab Israelis said progress would require Israeli withdrawal from territory, reductions in settlement activity or fewer restrictions on movement.
LAND, SECURITY AND DISTRUST DRIVE PESSIMISM
Among those who rejected the possibility of coexistence, disagreement over land was one of the most common explanations on both sides. Some argued that partitioning the territory was no longer realistic, while others said illusory sovereignty over the territory should belong exclusively to their own side.
Israeli respondents who opposed a Paleostinian state frequently focused on security. One 43-year-old Jewish Israeli man said he was unwilling to risk Paleostinians gaining a state, becoming stronger and arming themselves with a border close to his home. Another, a 57-year-old Jewish Israeli man, said: "They don’t want to live next to us, but in our place."
Pew found that many Paleostinians, by contrast, pointed to Israeli control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, settlements and checkpoints as central obstacles. A 19-year-old Paleostinian woman said: "It is an occupied country, there is no security, movement between cities is difficult, and there are checkpoints."
Past and recent bloodshed also figured prominently in explanations from both sides. Some Jewish Israelis explicitly cited the Hamas
 ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
-led October 7 attack as the point at which they lost faith in a two-state solution. "Since what happened on Oct. 7, I have lost all faith in the Paleostinian people and in the two-state solution for both peoples," said a 36-year-old Jewish Israeli man.
Paleostinian respondents similarly invoked deaths, destruction and violence during the ensuing war. "They took our land and killed the people, and that’s enough. My brother was killed," said a 31-year-old Paleostinian woman.
Beyond specific events, many responses also reflected a profound lack of confidence in the other side, with some respondents portraying the two peoples’ religious or national outlooks as irreconcilable. Respondents accused the other population of rejecting peace, denying their national rights or harboring violent mostly peaceful intentions.
Fewer respondents focused primarily on failures by politicians. Others said the answer depended on whether attitudes, governments or conditions changed.
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