80% of Israelis back Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans – poll

Around 43% said the plan was ‘practical’ and should be implemented, while 30% said it was “desirable but not practical.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

According to a survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), published on Monday, 80% of Israelis agree with US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Gazans to other countries.

The poll’s results were revealed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington to meet with the American leader.

Eight out of ten Israelis said they agreed with the statement, “Arabs from Gaza should relocate to another country.”

Although the vast majority supported the plan, not all believed that it was possible or feasible.

Around 43% said the plan was “practical” and should be implemented, while 30% said it was “desirable, but not practical.”

Only 13% of respondents believed that Trump’s proposal was immoral. Among them, 54% were Arab respondents, while only 3% of Jewish Israelis shared this view.

Those who answered that the plan was both practical and desirable included 81% of those who identify as right-wing, 31% in the center, and 27% on the left.

The majority of Likud voters agreed that the plan was both practical and desirable, and half of those who voted for the National Unity party felt it was desirable but not practical.

About 62% of Labor voters said the plan was “immoral” or a “distraction.”

The conclusion of the JPPI survey was that the proposal to relocate Palestinians, a move once thought of as unacceptable by many Israelis, is now garnering widespread support.

Most of those who objected to the plan did so because they doubted it could be carried out or felt it was a distraction, rather than rejecting it on moral grounds.

By way of comparison, surveys taken in the 1990s and 2000s regarding the transfer of Palestinians from Judea and Samaria show that at that time, only 40-50% of respondents supported the plan.

Trump contacted Jordanian King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi regarding the transfer of Gazan civilians to their countries, but both leaders, as well as the Arab League, rejected Trump’s plan.