Two-State Solution Unpopular With Majority of Israelis and Palestinians, Poll Finds
A majority of Israelis and Palestinians oppose a two-state solution, according to a new poll released by Gallup on Tuesday, ahead of the three-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
Only 26 percent of polled Israelis said they would support the two-state solution, which entails the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. 65 percent of Israelis oppose two independent states, according to the poll.
Gallup noted that since 2023, it has been unable to include respondents from Gaza as it did in the past.
Among Palestinians who were polled from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, 32 percent said they support a two-state solution – while 58 percent oppose it.
The level of support for a permanent deal, which would establish an independent Palestinian state alongside an independent Israel, remained relatively low but stable since 2023, rising by 1 percent among Israelis and 6 percent among Palestinians.
However, these figures fall far from Gallup's 2012 poll, which found that two-thirds of Palestinians and 61 percent of Israelis voiced support for two states.
The poll also found widespread pessimism among both Israelis and Palestinians, with only 22 percent of Israelis and 21 percent of Palestinians indicating that they think a permanent peace will ever be achieved.
"Although optimism about the prospects for peace is marginally higher than the levels from 2023 around the time of the October 7 attacks, it is still a minority opinion for both Israelis and Palestinians," Gallup said in a press release.
On Wednesday, Israel will commemorate the three-year anniversary of Hamas' October 7 attack, during which roughly 1,200 people were killed and nearly 250 taken hostage to Gaza. While Gallup describes the attack as an "upheaval" that "ushered in a new era in the Middle East," it stressed that pessimism continues to characterize both sides.
"In Israel, the idea of an independent Palestinian state is deeply politicized, splitting clearly according to views on current leadership. Among Palestinians, views are less divided along political lines," Gallup said in the statement.
Gallup's survey is based on a random sample of 1,000 Israelis, as well as 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.