War and Peace Index: Majority Support Building in Jerusalem But Not Timing of Annoucement
Posted on: March 25, 2010

In March, The War and Peace Index, now a joint venture of The Evens Mediation and Conflict Resolution Center at Tel Aviv University and The Israel Democracy Institute, looked at recent U.S.-Israeli tensions over the settlement freeze issue. Among the findings:

  • A  large majority (62%) of the Jewish public does not “buy” the notion that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not know beforehand about the authorization to build 1600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo in northeastern Jerusalem, as he claimed in his apology to visiting U.S. vice-president Joe Biden.
  • The majority (54% vs. 38%) also considers that the Israeli government should take into account the U.S. position on the settlements issue, including with regard to their expansion for demographic growth.
  • A small majority (48% vs. 39%) thinks Netanyahu indeed needed to apologize to Biden.
  • Only about one-fourth hold the opinion that the authorization for the new construction was a mistake, while 41% think only the timing was mistaken and 15% say neither the decision nor the timing was.

Click here to download the entire War and Peace Index in PDF format »