Most Israelis against concessions on Jerusalem: poll

JERUSALEM - Agence France-Presse

People look at illuminated flowers part of a light show projected on to its ancient walls of Jerusalem's Old City during the Jerusalem Festival of Lights on June 4, 2013. AFP photo

Three-quarters of Israelis oppose the idea of any part of Jerusalem becoming capital of a Palestinian state, a poll showed on Wednesday as Israel marked 46 years since the 1967 Six Day War. And less than one in 10 would back the idea of a Palestinian state within the lines that existed before the outbreak of the war on June 5, 1967 when Israel seized east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The survey, published in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, showed that 74 percent were against the idea of the Palestinians having the capital of their future state in any part of Jerusalem, with only 15 percent in favour of dividing the city.

Two thirds, or 67 percent, said they were in favour of a two-state solution to end the conflict with the Palestinians, while 33 oppose it. And of those in favour, only 8 percent would agree to the Palestinian demand for a state within the 1967 lines.

Washington is currently engaged in a major push to rekindle peace talks after a hiatus of nearly three years, with the Palestinians pushing for a state within the 1967 lines and east Jerusalem as their capital. Although Israel has accepted the idea of a two-state solution, it wants all of Jerusalem to remain united under Israeli sovereignty. It also wants to keep hold of the main settlement blocs where most of the 500,000 Jewish settlers live. Of those in favour of a two-state solution, 40 percent said they wanted Israel to keep the major settlement blocs - Gush Etzion, Ariel and Maaleh Adumim.

And 19 percent said they would back moves to annex Area C, which covers more than 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, in order to keep hold of the settlements. The poll, which questioned 500 Jewish Israelis -- half of them secular and half of them religious -- was carried out on Monday by Rafi Smith Research and has a 4.5 percentage point margin of error.
 
The figures showed sharp differences between the two types of respondent. Of those in the secular camp, 83 percent were in favour of a two-state solution, while 72 percent of the religious respondents said they were against it. The Palestinians were also marking the anniversary of the Six Day War on Wednesday, which they refer to as the Naksa, or "setback" when they remember the losses sustained during the conflict.