Dismantling Settlements Is Creating Polarization in Israel?

Israelis settlements in West Bank have been one of the major hurdles in the resolution of Israeli-Palestinian crisis in accordance with the two state solution. Palestinians views about this issue have been quite clear that the want an end to these settlements that would lead the way for the eventual creation of Palestinian state. But in Israel the public perceptions on this issue have remained quite anti-evacuation.

A recent survey in Israel shows a kind of shift in the general Israeli public attitude towards this issue. Opposition to dismantling these settlements have dropped remarkably and support for this idea has reached as high as 60 percent. This is the highest support for this idea recorded since 2005. Who will get most affected by the idea of dismantling settlements? Of course the settlers, the settler’s perceptions on this issue are widely different from the general Israeli public. Almost seven in ten (69%) settlers oppose the idea of dismantling these settlements. This is in sharp contrast to general Israeli public. Mistakenly 57% of the settlers believe that general Israeli public is also opposed to the idea of evacuation, which is totally the reverse of the reality. A large majority of general Israeli public believe that motive for living in settlements should be attached with religious or missionary zeal but the settlers stated that they are more motivated by personal quality of life, housing and community then religious or missionary objectives.

These findings suggest that settlers and general Israeli public have widely different perceptions about dismantling the settlements in Judea and Samaria. Moreover the settlers have misperceptions about the general Israeli views about evacuating West Bank settlements. Does this suggest that general Israeli pubic and settlers are moving towards two different poles? Setters would definitely be the most affected group if Israeli government decides to evacuate, so will this decision create internal groups in public and Israeli politics? On the other hand if Israel continues with these settlements will there ever be peace between Palestinians and Israelis?