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Last update - 12:34 12/06/2009
Poll: 56% of Israelis back settlement construction
By The Associated Press
Tags: settlements, Israel news 

Nearly six of every 10 Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resist U.S. demands to completely freeze construction in Jewish West Bank settlements, according to a new poll released Friday.

The poll by the Maagar Mohot Polling Institute comes just ahead of Netanyahu's major policy speech on Sunday that is expected to address a growing divide with Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants to aggressively pursue Mideast peacemaking, and the halt of all building on land the Palestinians claim for their future state has been a key U.S. demand.
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Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said Netanyahu should not consent to the American demand to halt all settlement construction, as opposed to 37 percent who said he should. Fifty percent said failure to comply would not provoke a crisis with the U.S., while 32 percent said they thought the settlement freeze was a make or break issue for Washington.

Maagar Mohot also found in a separate poll that two-thirds of Israelis have little appetite for dismantling West Bank settlements. Thirty-six percent oppose any evacuation as part of a final peace deal and 30 percent said only a small number should be dismantled.

Both surveys polled 503 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in 121 West Bank settlements and more than 100 wildcat settler enclaves.

The Palestinians want the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip for a future state, and see settlement building as a major obstacle to that aspiration. The U.S. has opposed settlement construction for decades, but Obama has been especially forceful in the early months of his presidency in demanding a settlement freeze.

He also has been pressing Netanyahu to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, something the Israeli leader has refused to do.

Netanyahu is expected to try to placate Washington in his policy address on Sunday. He will have to execute a delicate balancing act because he doesn't want any overtures to the U.S. to splinter his hawkish coalition.

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      1.   So whos now against peace? 12:43  |  Oriv 12/06/09
      2.   99% of Palestinians back the right of return 12:45  |  Indigenous 12/06/09
      3.   such polls are relative 12:46  |  Rolf 12/06/09
      4.   Polls mean nothing 12:48  |  Ilias 12/06/09
      5.   Good ! 12:49  |  Sam Soul 12/06/09
      6.   Great news for the Palestinians.. 12:57  |  John 12/06/09
      7.   This is good news indeed 12:58  |  Natallie Durson 12/06/09
      8.   This poll means nothing 13:00  |  Matty Groves 12/06/09
      9.   50% of Israelis delusional 13:05  |  An American icon 12/06/09
      10.   How not??? 13:11  |  Indigenous Jew 12/06/09
      11.   Rolf, Berlin 13:14  |  sh 12/06/09
      12.   Proof is in the Pudding 13:15  |  Guy from NYC 12/06/09
      13.   Losers 13:15  |  Mark Penn 12/06/09
      14.   What will the 56% say.... 13:24  |  Michael 12/06/09
      15.   "... 56% of israeli back settlement construction ... 13:27  |  Akram Zekaria 12/06/09
      16.   Robust sanctions could quickly change the percentage. 14:33  |  jens 12/06/09
      17.   the politics of disaster 14:34  |  Chris 12/06/09
      18.   Supporting Settlements = Supporting Peace!! 14:43  |  Dr Eric 12/06/09
      19.   #4 14:45  |  James 12/06/09
      20.   #13 Mark Penn 15:08  |  John 12/06/09
      21.   What about the natural growth of the Palestinians? 15:13  |  WHG 12/06/09
      22.   resolts 15:17  |  oz 12/06/09
      23.   Jens 15:49  |  danish 12/06/09
      24.   #7 Natalie Drugson, "The Icing on the Cake" 15:58  |  H 12/06/09
      25.   US Sanctions and Travel Restrictions will Quickly Change Polls 15:58  |  Sclomo Joe 12/06/09
      26.   A better headline would be... 15:59  |  Tzfonit 12/06/09
      27.   Just say NO! 16:11  |  g.e. 12/06/09
      28.   KOOL-AID, ANYONE? 16:17  |  Ed 12/06/09
      29.   #20 16:17  |  jmd 12/06/09
      30.   Showdown time between US voters and Israeli voters 16:17  |  Ivar 12/06/09
      31.   WHY EUROPEANS BACK PALESTINE 16:23  |  Alka Seltzer 12/06/09
      32.   Defend your settlements without US support 16:23  |  John 12/06/09
      33.   Defining this type of poll, its results..! 16:32  |  Stephen. 12/06/09
      34.   Israeli Jews or Israelis? 16:38  |  Pedro Goncalves 12/06/09
      35.   I think that are 96% 16:40  |  dani.a 12/06/09
      36.   Reject our money 16:43  |  Poor Texan 12/06/09
      37.   american perspective on this 16:46  |  david 12/06/09
      38.   Palestinians do not have a peace partner 16:51  |  FACT 12/06/09
      39.   Avarice! 16:54  |  Shylock 12/06/09
      40.   to Alka Seltzer.....and why Europeans must back the OCCUPYERS? 18:53  |  Antonio da Silva 12/06/09
      41.   Antonio da Silva 19:43  |  Alan 12/06/09
      42.   "Against peace"?? what a joke. Settlements were never the issue 19:45  |  IW 12/06/09
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