Poll: Most Israelis oppose withdrawal from Golan Heights

By Xinhua,

Jerusalem : A majority of Israelis are opposed to realizing peace with Syria at the cost of withdrawing from the Golan Heights, local daily Ha’aretz reported on Thursday citing results of a recent survey.


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About 68 percent of the individuals surveyed want to preserve the existing situation including keeping the West Bank and Golan in Israel’s hands, according to the poll, which was conducted by the Maagar Mochot research institute to assess the sovereignty and independence of the 60-year-old Jewish state.

Among the two occupied areas, the survey found Israelis prefer the strategic highland, as only 4 percent chose the option of “the Green Line borders with the West Bank but without the Golan,” while 18 percent selected the one of “the Green Line borders with the Golan but without the West Bank,” which effectively means a division of Jerusalem.

About 35 percent said they were “moderately or highly likely” to take illegal actions to prevent the evacuation from Golan, while about half of the percentage said they were prepared to takeillegal actions to prevent the evacuation of a large settlement inthe West Bank, according to the survey.

The findings were released a day after Israel and Syria simultaneously confirmed they began indirect peace talks under Turkey’s auspices. Turkish officials said that both the two sides understand that a future peace agreement will include Israel’ s full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

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