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Poll: Most Israeli Jews Support Pullout

More than half the Jewish population in Israel supports the idea of withdrawing from territories in the West Bank and Gaza, according to a poll conducted in May 2005 by Haifa University’s National Security Studies Center.

The poll questioned more than 1,000 people (811 Jews and 235 Arabs) in both pre- and post-1967 Israel.

The poll was conducted as Israel prepares to evacuate 1,800 Jewish families from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in August. The plan has generated a huge public opposition campaign.

Some 54.1 percent of the Jews questioned said they support withdrawing from areas in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, while 41.6% of the Jewish respondents said territories should not be given to Palestinians even in the framework of a peace deal.

One in every five Jewish respondents said they were willing to participate in blocking or closing main arteries in order to stop a dangerous policy of the Israeli government.

Among Jews living in post-1967 Israel one in every four respondents supported this notion.

Some 3.3% of the Jewish respondents said they are prepared to be part of a group that wishes to topple an elected government by use of violent means, but none of these respondents were residents of post-1967 Israel.

Means respondents cited to stop a government policy include blocking roads and closing streets, trespassing and taking over buildings, factories or institutions.

Nearly half the Jewish respondents defined protest activities of settlers as violent actions.