A year after the October 7, 2024, Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s ongoing response, hope for lasting peace in the region remains near all-time lows among both Israelis and Palestinians. These findings are from a recent Gallup poll conducted among Israelis and Palestinian residents in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Because of the ongoing war, Palestinians in Gaza were not included in the survey.)
When asked if permanent peace will ever be achieved, around two-thirds of Israelis (66%) and Palestinians in the West Bank/East Jerusalem (68%) responded ”no.”
Though hope among both groups has been relatively low since Gallup began the survey in 2006, Israeli optimism peaked in 2017, with a third (34%) believing peace could be attained. Hope from Palestinians in the West Bank/East Jerusalem has remained in the 20% range for most of the survey’s history. However, this year has seen a slight uptick, with 24% saying “yes” when asked if permanent peace will be realized.
In addition to waning hope for peace, neither group has significant support for a two-state solution to the conflict. Only 27% of Israelis believe in the creation of a Palestinian state. This is statistically unchanged from recent years, but a far cry from 2012, when 61% wanted a two-state solution.
West Bank/East Jerusalem Palestinian support for a two-state solution has dropped drastically since 2012, with 66% supporting it then and only 28% currently expressing support.
Although more Palestinians in the West Bank/East Jerusalem still prefer non-violent resistance (46%) to armed struggle (35%) when searching for a solution to the conflict, the numbers are much closer than they have ever been. In 2012, the same group favored non-violent resistance to armed struggle at rates of 71% to 15%, respectively.
More information, including the survey’s bottom line and methodology, can be found here.
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