Among Jewish Israelis, opposition is even higher at 79%, up from 76% in the previous JCFA poll. This marks the highest level of Jewish-Israeli opposition in its tracking since the war began.
Dr. Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)(photo credit: Guy Sidi)ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFSeventy percent of Israelis oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines in the wake of the October 7 attacks, a new survey by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) found on Monday, ahead of a key UN Security Council vote on a US proposal that would open a pathway to Palestinian statehood. The poll, conducted on November 16–17 by Dr. Menachem Lazar of the Lazar Research Institute among a representative sample of 698 Jewish and Arab Israelis, has a margin of error of ±3.7%. The findings come as international momentum grows for recognizing a Palestinian state, even as multiple polls show Israeli public opinion moving in the opposite direction.
According to the JCFA, the level of opposition recorded in this latest survey is the highest in its ongoing series since the war began. Similar national polls earlier this year also found large majorities of Israelis rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state after October 7.
The survey found that 70% of Israelis oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines at this time. Only 8% support such a state unconditionally, 13% said they would support it only if the prospective state fully recognizes Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and is completely demilitarized, and 9% are undecided.
Among Jewish Israelis, opposition is even higher at 79%, up from 76% in the previous JCFA poll. The center said this marks the highest level of Jewish-Israeli opposition in its tracking since the war began, reinforcing earlier The Jerusalem Post reporting that around seven in ten Israelis have opposed Palestinian statehood since February.
The findings contrast sharply with international moves to formalize Palestinian statehood, including recent steps at the UN General Assembly and in several Western capitals to outline an “irreversible” path toward recognition.
Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi addresses delegates during a high-level meeting of heads of state on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at United Nations headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ)
Saudi normalization fails to sway majority
The JCFA survey also tested whether prospective normalization with Saudi Arabia would change attitudes toward a Palestinian state. Sixty-two percent of Israelis said they would still oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state even if it were part of a normalization deal with Riyadh.
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Among Jewish Israelis, opposition to tying statehood to a Saudi deal rose from 67% in a previous survey to 73%. By contrast, 56% of Arab Israelis support the idea of a Palestinian state in return for normalization, including 34% who back it unconditionally. Previously, a separate survey reported by The Jerusalem Post found that 64% of Israelis opposed including a Palestinian state in a Saudi deal, indicating that opposition has remained strong over time.
QME and F-35 jets at center of Saudi debate
On the question of normalization with Saudi Arabia in exchange for Riyadh receiving advanced F-35 fighter jets, if it drops its demand for a Palestinian state, the public is sharply divided. Forty-three percent of respondents oppose any such deal, while 40% support it.
However, 34% of the total public condition their support on an explicit American guarantee to maintain Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge, leaving only 6% who back the deal with no conditions. Among those opposed, 22% explicitly cited a lack of trust in Saudi Arabia’s ability to honor long-term commitments. The issue mirrors long-running debates in Israel over US sales of F-35 jets to Arab states and their possible impact on Israel’s military edge, concerns that have resurfaced in recent discussions over a potential sale to Riyadh.
Israelis reject the US Security Council formulation on statehood
Regarding the US proposal now before the UN Security Council, 49% of the overall public and 57% of Jewish Israelis oppose any Israeli declaration of future support for a Palestinian state, even if the Palestinians carry out governance and security reforms. Twenty percent of respondents said they would only consider such a declaration if any future Palestinian state were fully demilitarized and formally recognized Israel as the Jewish state.
The question reflects a growing gap between diplomatic initiatives in Washington, European capitals, and the UN, which increasingly focus on recognition of Palestinian statehood, and an Israeli public that remains profoundly skeptical about the security implications of such a move after October 7.
On post-war security arrangements in the Gaza Strip, the survey points to more flexibility. Sixty-two percent of Israelis support deploying an international force in Gaza to stabilize security after the fighting ends.
Of those backing an international presence, 52% said they would prefer a US-only or Western-only force, while only 10% would accept including Turkey and Qatar. At the same time, 26% of all respondents insist that security in Gaza should remain under exclusive Israeli military control, echoing a previous JCFA-commissioned poll that found majority support for a temporary IDF occupation of the Strip after the war.
The JCFA said the new findings show that, even as debates intensify at the UN and in Western capitals over recognizing a Palestinian state, only 8% of Israelis currently support establishing a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines without conditions.
Hazam Qassem affirmed that the terror group wants a resolution that prevents Israel from “encroaching on Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem.”
Hamas terrorists pictured in Gaza City, October 15, 2025; illustrative.(photo credit: REUTERS/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS)ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFThe US draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council does not “serve the stability of the situation in Gaza,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said on Sunday.
Hamas wants a UNSC resolution “that prevents the occupation [Israel] from encroaching on Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem,” Qassem said in a press statement shared by Hamas’s official media SAFA.
“We want a Security Council resolution that protects our people’s right to self-determination and prevents war on the Gaza Strip,” Qassem added.
day on Gaza Strip multinational force
The UNSC will vote on Monday evening on the draft resolution regarding the International Stabilization Force (ISF) that is expected to be deployed to the Gaza Strip.
The draft resolution is identical to the version presented to UNSC on Thursday, which states that the multinational force will work to secure the borders, destroy military infrastructure, and demilitarize the Strip. In addition, a Palestinian police force will be trained to join the multinational force.
Members of the United Nations Security Council vote against a resolution by Russia and China to delay by six months the reimposition of sanctions on Iran during the 80th U.N. General Assembly in New York City, US, September 26, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ)
The proposal stipulates that decisions will be made together with Egypt and Israel, as members of the force, and that Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip will depend on its deployment throughout the territory (except for the perimeter zone, where the United States will remain for an extended period).
Israeli TV says Trump team pushing ‘interim solutions, unacceptable to Israel’; ahead of imminent UN vote, Israel said readying for deployment of foreign troops; PM speaks to Putin
Palestinians clean the streets of Gaza City on November 15, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
The Trump administration is looking to forgo the stage in its peace plan calling for the deployment of a stabilization force to Gaza to disarm Hamas, so that it can move ahead with starting to rebuild the enclave, according to an Israeli television report Saturday.
The current ceasefire, which has been in place since early October, is still only in its first phase, as talks on further steps have stalled over the details of Hamas’s demilitarization and the future governance of the Gaza Strip.
However, the potential change in the White House’s direction is causing talks with Israel on Gaza’s future to “deadlock,” a source told Channel 13 news.
An Israeli security source said that since the White House is having trouble getting commitments from third-party countries to participate in disarming Hamas, it has since begun pursuing “interim solutions, which are currently unacceptable to Israel.”
“This interim situation is the worst there is,” a senior Israeli source told the outlet. “Hamas has been strengthening in recent weeks since the end of the war.”
“There can be no rehabilitation before demilitarization. It is contrary to Trump’s plan. Gaza must be demilitarized,” a security official said.
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Palm Beach, Florida, on November 14, 2025 (Jim WATSON / AFP)
The US, which has acted as the guarantor of the agreement, is pushing a resolution to a vote at the UN Security Council on Monday, a draft of which was obtained and verified by The Times of Israel last week. The draft included the entirety of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also endorsed in a joint press conference with the president in September.
The draft authorized member states to “establish a temporary International Stabilization Force,” and indicated the mandate would run through 2027. Countries that expressed willingness to contribute troops have said they would need a UN resolution enshrining the force.
According to a report published Saturday by the Kan public broadcaster, Israel in recent days has begun initial preparations for the influx of thousands of foreign soldiers into Gaza, anticipating that the UN Security Council will pass the resolution.
Palestinians drive down a muddy road after the first winter rainfall on a displacement camp in Gaza City on November 14, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Israel is looking for the foreign forces to be given broad powers to disarm Hamas, the report said, though most countries that have expressed interest in participating in the ISF have said they would not be willing to enforce the disarmament of terror groups in the Strip, and would only act as a peacekeeping force.
In a joint statement arranged by the US on Friday, multiple countries working toward an end to the Gaza conflict voiced backing for Washington’s UN Security Council resolution.
The statement, supported by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey, noted that the process “offers a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
Meanwhile, Russia — a veto-wielding member of the Security Council — circulated a competing draft resolution to council members that does not authorize the creation of a board of peace or the immediate deployment of an international force in Gaza, according to the text seen Friday by AFP.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (seated at table, 3R) speaks during a United Nations Security Council ministerial meeting on Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York on September 23, 2025. (Charly Triballeau/Pool/AFP)
The Russian version welcomes “the initiative that led to the ceasefire,” but does not name Trump. It also only calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report that addresses the possibilities of deploying an international stabilization force in war-ravaged Gaza.
Ahead of the vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Netanyahu held a phone call Saturday evening, the Kremlin said, adding that the two discussed the situation in the Middle East, including developments in Gaza, Iran’s nuclear program, and Syria.
Putin initiated the phone conversation with Netanyahu, according to the Israeli readout.
The call was the latest in a series of recent conversations, according to Netanyahu’s office. The calls “dealt with regional issues,” the PMO added, without elaborating.
