More than a quarter of Israel's Arab citizens believe the Holocaust never happened, and nearly two-thirds of Israeli Jews avoid entering Arab towns, according to a new University of Haifa poll.

Conducted by Prof. Sami Smooha, a prominent sociologist, the poll showed a wide gap of mistrust, anger and fear between Jews and Arabs, who make up a fifth of the country's population.

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The poll's most dramatic finding was that 28 percent of local Arabs did not believe the Holocaust happened, and that among high-school and college graduates the figure was even higher: 33 percent.

According to Smooha's analysis, radicals in the Arab world believe the Holocaust to be a political event, and many feel that by denying it they are expressing opposition to Israel.

Among Israeli Jews, 63 percent said they avoid entering Arab towns and cities, and 68 percent fear the possibility of civil unrest among the Arabs.

Pollsters interviewed 721 Arabs and 702 Jews. The margin of error was 3.7 percentage points.

Asked about Israel's war in Lebanon last summer, 48 percent of the Israeli Arabs polled said they believe Hezbollah's rocket attacks on northern Israel during that war were justified, even though numerous Arabs were killed and wounded as well.

While 89 percent said they view Israel's bombing of Lebanon as a war crime, only 44 percent said they see Hezbollah's attacks on Israel as such.

Half of Israeli Arab respondents said Hezbollah's capture of the two Israeli soldiers, which sparked the fighting, was justified.

Smooha expressed surprise at the results and said more pro-Israeli sentiment among Israeli Arabs was expected, due to the uniqueness of the recent war: It was a war with no involvement of the Palestinians, a war during which the lives and property of Israelis were endangered, and a war against an Islamic fundamentalist group that most of them don't support.

MK Ahmed Tibi said he doubted some of the findings and said he cannot explain the numbers indicating support for Hezbollah, although he noted that usually there is no empathy for the aggressor, which he said was Israel.

Tibi also said he doubted that the statistics on Holocaust denial reflect the situation in the Arab elite. He called the Holocaust the worst crime ever against humanity and said Holocaust denial is immoral. Some feelings might stem from reservations about the way the Holocaust is used as a political tool by Israel, said Tibi, a harsh critic of the occupation and Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

The poll also found that Israeli Arabs worry about their future: 62 percent worry that Israel could transfer their communities to the jurisdiction of a future Palestinian state. Sixty percent said they are concerned about a possible mass expulsion.

Among the Arab respondents, 76 percent described Zionism as racist. But more than two-thirds said they would be content to live in the Jewish state, if it existed alongside a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.