Daniel Lubetzky

Several hundred media outlets across the world covered the OneVoice poll and related town hall meetings.  Here are just two samples:

• The Guardian: Most Palestinians and israelis willing to accept two-state solution, poll finds
• Jerusalem Post: Poll: 80% of both peoples want 2 states

THE GUARDIAN
Most Palestinians and Israelis willing to accept two-state solution, poll finds

Survey indicates around three in four would find outcome at least ‘tolerable’

• David Pallister
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 April 2009 11.04 BST
• Article history

A majority of both Palestinians and Israelis are willing to accept a two-state solution, according to a poll from the international grassroots movement One Voice.

Based on public opinion research methods used in Northern Ireland, 500 interviews were completed in Israel and 600 in the West Bank and Gaza immediately following the Gaza war and the Israeli elections.

Each side was asked which problems they thought were "very significant" and what the solutions might be.

The results indicate that 74% of Palestinians and 78% of Israelis are willing to accept a two-state solution on an option range from "tolerable" to "essential", while 59% of Palestinians and 66% of Israelis find a single bi-national state "unacceptable".

The poll comes as it emerged Barack Obama is to invite Israeli, ­Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to the White House within the next two months in a fresh push for Middle East peace. Obama, speaking at the White House yesterday, said there was a need to try to rise above the cynicism about prospects for peace.

The results of today’s poll imply that mainstream Israeli and Palestinian populations have yet to acknowledge the significant priorities and fears on the other side.

The top item for Palestinians is the establishment of an independent sovereign state at 97%, followed by the rights of refugees at 95% and agreement on the future of Jerusalem at 94%.

For Israelis the top item is security at 77%, followed by an agreement on the future of Jerusalem at 68% and rights to natural resources at 62%.

An analysis of the poll by One Voice says: "It is absolutely essential that the issues at the top of these two lists get dealt with in any peace agreement or it is unlikely that that agreement will last. This means Palestinians need to be aware of and address the ‘Security of Israel’ problem that comes in 12th on the Palestinian list, and that Israelis need to be aware of and address the cluster of issues at the top of the Palestinian list."

The poll also revealed significant divisions about the issues of settlements and refugees, on which there was no single proposed solution which met with majority approval on both sides. Ninety-eight per cent of Palestinians think that all the settlers should leave the occupied territories with the settlements abolished – an option that 53% of Israelis find unacceptable.

More than 90% of Palestinians want refugees to be given the right to return with compensation, while 77% of Israelis say that is unacceptable.

On Jerusalem, the sides are poles apart. The most attractive option for Palestinians – 95% – is for all of Jerusalem to remain in Palestine, and for Israelis it is for all of Jerusalem to remain in Israel at 56%.

The report says that "as these two options are mutually exclusive proposals to internationalise or divide the city also need to be considered".

One Voice concludes that, at a minimum, the results suggest that "the continued insistence of both sides on a negotiated and mutually acceptable resolution could offer significant legitimacy to political leaders looking to push for negotiations toward a two-state agreement".

JERUSALEM POST

Eighty percent of both Israelis and Palestinians support the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to a survey conducted by Mina Tsemach of the Dahaf Institute and Irish scholar Colin Irwin in the wake of Operation Cast Lead and published by Army Radio Wednesday.

The poll was commissioned by the One Voice organization, an NGO of Israelis and Palestinians which seeks to promote the voices of moderates on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

One Voice chairman Irit Admoni-Perlman said the data must be presented to the incoming Israeli government as well as to public figures, "so that they’re aware of what the Israelis and Palestinians think."

The poll showed both peoples were strongly opposed to the notion of one bi-national state.

It also showed a will on both sides to cooperate on economic and security issues, but found that Israelis and Palestinians still disagree on Jerusalem and the holy places, the Palestinian refugee and other national issues.

77% of Israelis were against any partition of Jerusalem and both sides converged mostly in their vehement opposition to declaring it an international city. While almost all Palestinians polled cited the establishment of an independent state as their top priority, this was only 11th on the priority list with Israelis. Conversely, the security of Israeli residents was highly important with Israelis but only 12th on the Palestinians’ priority list.

The poll was conducted between the end of Operation Cast Lead in mid-January and the general election in Israel on February 10. Its results were set to be presented at a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday.

The One Voice movement also plans to hold public gatherings in which controversial subjects will be discussed in the coming year, in order, it said, to influence leaders of both sides to accept the will of the people