70% of Israelis Endorse UN Acceptance of Palestinian State

The Truman Institute at the Hebrew University has done a poll of Israeli and Palestinian opinion about the PA’s UN bid for statehood.  Remarkably, the poll finds nearly 70% of Israelis prepared to accept a Palestinian state through a UN vote.  This despite the opposition of their own prime minister.  Does Barack Obama know that a plurality of Americans and majority of Israelis support a plan he rejects?  This shows how completely out of touch both Netanyahu and Obama are, and how isolated they are in their own arms.

And hey, you didn’t read this in Haaretz.  You read it in the Jerusalem Post, no less!

80% of Palestinians support the statehood bid.  This compares to a BBC poll which found roughly twice as many people in the 19 countries polled supported statehood as opposed it (roughly 49% to 21%).  In other words, MORE Israelis support statehood than any of the 19 countries polled by the BBC.

Let’s be clear about what this is and what it isn’t.  It doesn’t mean that 70% of Israelis WANT a Palestinian state.  God forbid!  It means that Israelis (as opposed to their far-right government) are pragmatic enough to realize that if the UN endorses statehood that Israel better just learn to live with it and make the best of it.  And you know what?  I’ll take that.  Of course, it would be better for Israelis to willingly accept such a state.  But any way they conceive of their acceptance is good enough for me.