Similarly, the Trump formula risks alienating Palestinians, as public opinion has shifted towards greater support of a two-state solution. Palestinians “want anything that will stop the bloodshed”, said Ramallah-based pollster Zayne Abudaka on a podcast for an online magazine of Israeli and Palestinian journalists.
He suggested that a majority of Palestinians advocated peaceful means to achieve their goals – including boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel, protests, and negotiations – but that armed resistance remains an option. “Armed resistance is not unpopular, it’s just not the top three,” he said.
Multiple polls also suggest that a majority of Israelis want an end to the war, but do not oppose Israel’s war conduct or Mr Netanyahu’s war goals, including the depopulation of Gaza.
Perhaps the strongest sign, if one were needed, that Israel is likely to squash Mr Trump’s dream of an “everlasting peace” in the Middle East would be its refusal to release Marwan Barghouti.
The decision is designed to keep Palestinians divided and weak in future negotiations. Barghouti is a leader of Al-Fatah, the backbone of the West Bank-based, internationally recognised Palestine Authority, and one of the most prominent Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
He is widely viewed as a figure who can unite the Palestinian polity. He consistently emerges in opinion polls as the most popular Palestinian leader, whom Palestinians would vote for in a presidential election ahead of Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leaders.
