'70% of Palestinians expect third intifada if talks fail'

Jerusalem Post:

According to the results, 70% of Palestinians expect a break out of a third intifada that would be similar to that of 1987 and the second intifada in 2000 in case Israeli-Palestinian peace talks failed. However, 25% of those polled said they were opposed to a new intifada.

Almost 75% of those polled said they believed that any military escalation in the Gaza Strip would be in Israel’s interest, whereas only 18% believed it would in Hamas’s interest.

The poll found that almost 70% of Palestinians were opposed to the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

With regards to peace with Israel, respondents seemed to be equally divided. When asked “Do you think that Israelis are interested in making peace with Palestinians?” 44% said no, while 45% replied yes to a certain degree.

The poll also showed that 40% of Palestinians support the resumption of peace talks with Israel, as opposed to 32% who have a mixed feeling and 25% who are opposed.

According to the results of the survey, only a tiny minority of five percent is for “military operations” as a way to end Israeli occupation. More than 30% said they were in favor of negotiations until an agreement between the two parties is reached. Another 25% said they favored a non-violent popular resistance, while 12% said they believed a solutioncould be reached through the United Nations.

Over half of the respondents [53%] said they saw Palestinian Authority Prime MinisterSalam Fayyad as the best candidate for premier of a unity government with Hamas. Hamas’s prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, got only 14%.

But the poll revealed that Fayyad would lose to PA President Mahmoud Abbas in a presidential election. Forty-eight percent said they would vote for Abbas as opposed to 15% for Fayyad.