{"id":260375,"date":"2025-06-03T11:55:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=260375"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:21:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:21:48","slug":"israeli-public-is-increasingly-skeptical-about-lasting-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2025\/06\/03\/israeli-public-is-increasingly-skeptical-about-lasting-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Public Is Increasingly Skeptical About Lasting Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most see lack of trust between Israelis and Palestinians, along with the status of Jerusalem, as major obstacles<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n
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An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands near the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2024, with the Islamic Dome of the Rock seen in the background. (Hazem Bader\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How we did this<\/summary>\n

This Pew Research Center analysis explores Israeli attitudes on lasting peace with Palestinians, different parties\u2019 commitment to peace, obstacles in the process, and the influence of international actors. It also covers their views of Israeli leaders, Palestinian leaders and the prospect of an independent Palestinian state \u2013 the likelihood of international recognition in the near future and whether Israel can coexist peacefully alongside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data is from a survey of 998 Israeli adults conducted face-to-face from Feb. 5 to March 11, 2025. Interviews were conducted in Hebrew and Arabic, and the survey is representative of the adult population ages 18 and older, excluding those in East Jerusalem and in outposts that are not sanctioned by the Israeli government. (The survey also did not cover the West Bank or Gaza.) The survey included an oversample of Arabs in Israel. It was subsequently weighted to be representative of the Israeli adult population with the following variables: gender by ethnicity, age by ethnicity, education, region, urbanicity and probability of selection of respondent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the report, we analyze respondents\u2019 attitudes based on where they place themselves on an ideological scale. In Israel, we asked people to place themselves on a scale ranging from \u201cExtreme left\u201d to \u201cExtreme right\u201d and categorized them as being on the ideological left, center or right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to 2024, combined totals were based on rounded topline figures. For all reports beginning in 2024, totals are based on unrounded topline figures, so combined totals might be different than in previous years. Refer to this year\u2019s topline to see our new rounding procedures applied to past years\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used for the report<\/a>, along with responses, and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

More than a year into the Israel-Hamas war, Israelis express growing doubts about peace with Palestinians, according to a Pew Research Center survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research in the West Bank and Gaza<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pew Research Center has polled the Palestinian territories in previous years, but we were unable to conduct fieldwork in Gaza or the West Bank for our February-March 2025 survey due to security concerns. We are actively investigating possibilities for both qualitative and quantitative research on public opinion in the region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The survey was conducted Feb. 5-March 11, 2025, among a nationally representative sample of 998 Israeli adults. It is the Center\u2019s second annual survey in Israel since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023. The field period coincided with the most recent ceasefire<\/a> between Israel and Hamas, and the survey was completed before hostilities resumed on March 18<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likelihood of peace<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We find that 21% of Israeli adults think Israel and a Palestinian state can coexist peacefully \u2013 the lowest percentage since we began asking this question in 2013. <\/strong>This share is down 14 percentage points since spring 2023, several months before the Israel-Hamas war started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The share of Jewish Israelis who think peaceful coexistence is possible is also low (16%). Arab Israelis are more optimistic (40%) about the possibility of an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel, a prospect often called a \u201ctwo-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commitment to peace<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A slim majority of adults in Israel (56%) say the Israeli people are committed to working toward lasting peace. But fewer think this is true of the Palestinian people (41%) or of the leadership on either side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About half of Israelis (47%) say their own government is very or somewhat committed to working toward lasting peace.<\/strong> A similar share (45%) say the Palestinian Authority is at least somewhat committed to seeking peace. Just 20% of Israelis say this about Hamas, the main organization at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obstacles to peace<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israelis see several things as at least minor obstacles to peace: the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, conflict between the left and right in Israeli politics, and conflict between Hamas and Fatah on the Palestinian side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the most frequently cited obstacle is a lack of trust between Israelis and Palestinians.<\/strong> Three-quarters of Israelis call this a major<\/em> obstacle to lasting peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International actors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israelis are skeptical about foreign involvement in efforts to facilitate lasting peace. They see the influence of several countries \u2013 as well as the United Nations \u2013 as harmful rather than helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States is an exception: 81% of Israelis say the U.S. is helpful in the work toward lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, half of Israelis say U.S. President Donald Trump is favoring Israelis too much in his foreign relations, while 2% say he favors Palestinians too much and 42% say he favors each group the right amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the following report, we look more closely at how Israelis view:<\/p>\n\n\n\n