Elia Zureik
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario

Report submitted to the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa
December 1999

The author wishes to thank the research team for working diligently and under pressure to complete the study within a short period of time. Special thanks are due to Dr. As'ad Ghanem of Haifa University and Mr. Taha Ashkar for undertaking the responsibility of translating and overseeing the administration of the questionnaires. The efficiency with which the interviews and data analysis were completed is greatly appreciated. My gratitude goes to the several interviewers who participated in the study. Above all it is the interviewees who deserve the greatest thanks. Without their cooperation the study would have not been possible.

I also wish to thank Dr. Eppie Yaar from the Tami Steinmetz Center at Tel-Aviv University, and Mr. Jamil Rabah from the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre, for their efforts in contributing to a much needed comparative public opinion data on Palestinian refugees.

Finally, I would like to register special appreciation for the foresight of the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa for encouraging this research, and in particular the efforts of Ms. Eileen Alma and Ms. Roula El-Rifai of the Special Initiatives Programme, who saw to it that the research proposal was processed expeditiously. Special thanks to Mary Zureik for providing technical advice in the production of this report.

Needless to say, the author is solely responsible for interpreting the results and writing the final report.

Elia Zureik
Kingston, Ontario
December 1999

During two stocktaking workshops devoted to Palestinian refugees which were held in Ottawa in 1997 and 1998, and organized by the International Development Research Centre and the Palestine Refugee ResearchNet from McGill University, recommendations were made to explore in a systematic manner the Palestinian refugee issue as perceived by both Israelis and Palestinians. In particular, it was pointed out that, while there is some public opinion data on the refugee issue emanating from the Palestinian side in Gaza and the West Bank, there is a dearth of data pertaining to the Israeli public - both Arab and Jewish. In order to fill this gap and come up with a comprehensive picture of what Palestinians and Jews think of the refugee issue, now thatfinal status talks are looming ahead, the author sought the joint cooperation of two organizations which are involved in public opinion surveys: one is located at Tel-Aviv University, the Tami Steinmetz Centre for Peace Research; and the other is in East Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC), an independent, non-governmental organization which canvasses public opinion in the West Bank and Gaza. Both of these organizations have been involved in research directly related to the MiddleEast peace process. The Steinmetz Centre surveys on a regular basis the Jewish public on the peace process, and the JMCC does the same thing with regard to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. I undertook to canvass the Arab public in Israel, while JMCC polled Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and the Steinmetz Centre surveyed the Israeli Jewish public.

Rather than rely on commercial polling organizations in Israel, which routinely survey the Jewish public but have little experience in the Arab sector, I decided to seek a more reliable method of surveying the Arab population. Based on my previous work in the region, and more recent discussions with Israeli public opinion firms, I decided to rely on face-to-face interviews of Arab respondents. Dr. Asíad Ghanem, a political scientist at Haifa University, who is experienced in conducting public opinion polls in the Arab sector, agreed to coordinate the field work and oversee the selection of interviewers. Assisting him in this task was Mr. Taha Ashkar, who was in charge of drawing up the random sample of respondents, monitoring the interviewing process, and carrying out analysis of the data.

A three-way coordination ensued between me, Professor Eppie Yaar from the Steinmetz Centre, and Mr. Jamil Rabah from the JMCC in order to design a common questionnaire which would be given to the three representative samples from Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Samples

The sample of Palestinians in Israel consisted of 500 men and women ranging in age from 18 and above, and drawn on a stratified, random basis from 20 localities representing size of community and regional distribution. In line with other published estimates, around one-quarter (23.2%) of the randomly selected respondents turned out to be internal refugees, i.e., those who were displaced in 1948 and remained in what became Israel, but were not allowed to go back to their villages. The interviews were carried out face-to-face, and were conducted during November 1-10, 1999. The Israeli Jewish sample consisted of 500 persons, who were interviewed by telephone, while face-to-face interviews were used to reach the West Bank sample of 762 respondents, and Gazaís 438 respondents.

The sample of the Palestinians in Israel has a marginal error of +/- 4.5%. The questionnaire was pilot tested on 8 individuals of various age groups, comprising men and women. Collection of information from respondents was the responsibility of 12 interviewers, most of whom are either graduates of or currently studying atIsraeli universities. Very few of the older respondents who appeared on the random list, particularly women, refused to participate in the study. Interviewers were instructed to seek replacements for them from a computerized list of voters supplied by the IsraeliMinistry of Interior. For more details on the sample, see Appendix D.

The Questionnaire

The main survey instrument used 18 questions, 13 of which were common to the three groups being studied, and 5 specific questions were asked of Israeli Jews and their counterpart - the Palestinian citizens of Israel. In the case of the latter, additional four questions were used which dealt primarily with internal refugees as they related directly to the Arab community in Israel. The common questions were designed to (1) weigh the relative importance and difficulty in dealing with various final status issues (Palestinian state, Jerusalem, refugees, borders, water, and Jewish settlements), (2) the cause and responsibility surrounding the 1948 exodus of Palestinian refugees, (3) proposed solutions to the refugee problem and the feasibility of implementing these solutions, (4) possible places for settling Palestinian refugees, including their right to return home, (5) modalities of compensating Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, (6) general endorsement of international law governing displacement of people during times of war, and its applicability to the Palestinian case, (7) subjective estimates of Palestinian refugee numbers and those who would be willing to take advantage of the right of return, (8) perceived relationship, if any, between Jewish immigration from Arab countries to Israel, on the one hand, and the issue of Palestinian refugees, on the other, and (9) awareness of the existenceof internal Palestinian refugees in Israel, and what should be the attitude of the Israeli government towards them.

Three additional questions, given only to the Palestinian sample in Israel, focused on whether or not the respondent had relatives among the1948 refugees, the extent of their willingness to assist in the absorption of returning refugees, and if the solution to the problems of the internally displaced refugees should be linked to solving the larger refugee problem. See Appendix E for the fullquestionnaire.

Method of Reporting

While this study focuses mainly on the Arab sector in Israel, it also provides comparative data on the common questions used in the three surveys. Analysis of the data will be based on marginal and bi-variate distributions. There are four parts to this report. First, a summary of the findings from surveying the Palestinians in Israel is provided. Second, the report provides in summary format a comparative section dealing with the three samples. Third, further analysis of the Palestinian data from Israel will be examined by looking at the relationship between certain demographic/background questions and attitudes to the refugee issue. In this regard, several key variables were chosen for close examination: that of gender, whether or not the respondent has relatives among the 1948 refugees, regional location, and the respondentís age. Additional information is provided in five Appendices. Appendix A presents tables pertaining to the 13 questions that are common to the three samples. Appendix B presents data derived from 5 questions given to the Israeli sample of both Arabs and Jews. Appendix C consists of tables summarizing the results of three questions given to the Palestinian sample in Israel. Demographic and background information is presented in Appendix D, while the full questionnaire is reproduced in Appendix E.
 
 

The Palestinians in Israel

• In terms of degree of difficulty in reaching agreement on final-status issues, respondents ranked Jerusalem at the top of their first choice (53.2%), followed by Palestinian state (14.2%), and the third rank in the first choice centered on the fate of the refugees (11.0%).
  
• With regard to the importance of reaching an agreement on final-status issues, here too Jerusalem was ranked first (48%), followed by Palestinian state (13.8%), and the refugees issue (13.6%).
  
• With between 75% and 80% of the respondents making first-rank choice on the above three issues combined, the remaining final status issues involving Jewish settlements, water, and borders, were perceived to be secondary in terms of both importance and difficulty.
  
• If we consider the three combined choices per respondent, the following picture emerges: with regard to difficulty, 83% placed Jerusalem as either their first, second, or third choice; 57% placed the refugee issue in the three choices, and 52% opted for a Palestinian state as either first, second or third choice combined.
  
• Based on first, second or third choice, Jerusalem was chosen as the most important issue to resolve in final-status negotiations by 76% of the respondents, 54% chose a Palestinian state, and a close 53% placed the refugee problem in their three combined choices.
• Close to 61% blamed Jewish forces primarily for the expulsion of Palestinian refugees, with only 6% saying that the refugees left voluntarily, and 1% blaming Arab leaders for the refugee exodus.
  
• In another question about "responsibility" for creating the refugee problem, seventy-three per cent put the responsibility on Israel, either solely (40.6%) or mostly (33%).
  
• In terms of justice, 61.4% said that a proper solution to the refugee issue should be based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, and 22% said that such solution should emerge from negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians; only 5% left the decision on solving the refugee issue in Israelís hands solely.
  
• In contrast, close to one-half of the sample (49.2%) saw as feasible solving the refugee problem on the basis of Resolution 194, 29.6% defined feasibility in terms of return of a limited number of refugees to be decided in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and only 7.8% left feasibility to be defined solely in terms of Israelí s decisions.
   
• Fifty-eight per cent said that the 1948 refugees should be allowed to return to their homes in Israel, an additional 22.6% combined the Palestinian state and Israel as possible places for settling the refugees, and 11.2% chose the Palestinian state as the only site for resettlement, and a meager 2.4% opted for settling the refugees in their current locations in the Middle East and elsewhere.
   
• Israel was singled out by 69% as the source for compensating the refugees for their losses. Other responses included the United Nations and other international organizations (8%), Arab governments (less than one per cent), and 12% gave combined responses.
   
• With regard to a similar question dealing with compensation of Jewish immigrants who came to Israel from the Arab countries, 37.4% called on Israel to compensate these immigrants, 25.% said no one should compensate them, and 7.4% laid the responsibility for compensation on Arab governments. One per cent saw compensation of Jewish immigrants to be a Palestinian responsibility
    
• Seventy per cent agreed without any qualification with international law stipulating the repatriation of refugees who leave their homes either voluntarily or by force during war, and 22.4% gave qualified endorsement depending on "circumstances".
    
• An overwhelming, combined majority of 92% strongly agreed (69.2%) or agreed (22.8%) that such international law applies to the repatriation of Palestinian refugees.
    
• Knowledge about the actual number of refugees was fuzzy, with 42.8% saying they do not know how many there are, and only 17.4% coming close to the actual number of between 3-4 million (10.6%), and those saying 4 million or more (6.8%). Almost 20% estimated the number to be less than one million.
    
• Estimates of the number of refugees who would be willing to take advantage of the law of return varied from as low as less than half million (16%), to between 1-3 million (18.2%), and 15.6% opted for 4 million or more. What is significant about these responses is that 42.4% did not know how many would be prepared to return. As we will point out below, the majority of respondents answering "Don't Know" happen to be women and older people.
    
• Around 54% said that no link should be made in final status talks between Palestinian refugees and Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, 22.6% said the two issues should be linked, and a similar 22.6% did not know.
    
• Close to 90% knew about the existence of internal Palestinian refugees in Israel. Ninety-three per cent agreed that Israel should allow the return of these refugees to their villages (76.2% strongly agreed, and 17% agreed), and 2.2% of the respondents indicated that they actually live on or make use of abandoned refugee property.
    
• Forty-seven per cent said that they have relatives among the 1948 refugees, and 54.4% expressed willingness to assist in their absorption once they return.
    
• More than ninety per cent (93.2%) advocated solving the problem of internal refugees in the context of solving the general Palestinian problem by returning the displaced to their villages (65.2%), or by giving them compensation either in kind or in cash (28%).

Comparative Findings

This section compares the attitudes of the four groups on common items in the survey. The reader who is interested in detailed, item-by-item comparison, can refer to Appendix A. As expected, the starkest contrast is between Palestinians in general and Israeli Jews. On every question, Jewish respondents adopted a harsher stance on the refugee issue. However, it is not all black and white. Bearing in mind that the Palestinian refugee issue has been hardly discussed in the Israeli media and by politicians until very recently, the findings below show that there is a developing interest among the Israeli Jewish public in the refugee issue.

• In contrast to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as those in Israel, Jewish respondents placed the refugee issue overall in fifth place (first, second and third choice combined) in terms of overall difficulty, and seventh place in termsof overall importance among the six topics to be discussed during final-status negotiations. The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza placed the refugees in second place in terms of difficulty and third place in terms of importance (first, second and third choice combined). Of the various issues facing negotiators , the four groups placed Jerusalem at the top of their ranking in terms of difficulty and importance. It is interesting to note that for the West Bankers and Gazans, the choice of Palestinian state is ranked fourth in terms of both importanceand difficulty. Agreement over the futureof Jewish settlements is more salient to West Bankers and Gazans, as well as to Israeli Jews. As a matter of fact, excluding the Palestinians in Israel who ranked Jewish settlements overall in fourth place in terms of difficulty and importance, Israeli Jews are closer in their perception of the issue of settlements to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, thus placing settlements in the second place (for Jews), and third place for West Bankers and Gazans.
    
• A distinction is made in the questionnaire between "cause" and " responsibility" pertaining to the exodus of the 1948 refugees. Among the three Palestinian groups in the sample, 63.5% of Gazans, 60.8% of the Palestinians in Israel, and 56.4% of West Bankers blamed Jewish forces for causing the Palestinian refugee problem through expulsion. Very few said that the refugees left voluntarily (from 6% of the Palestinians in Israel and 4.5% of those in the West Bank, to 3.2% of the Palestinians in Gaza), or that they were told to leave by Arab leaders of neighbouring states (5.5% for Gazans, 6.2% for West Bankers, and 1% for the Palestinians in Israel).
    
• When it comes to responsibility for creating the refugee problem, a total of 76.6% of the Palestinians in Israel blamed only Israel (40.6%) or mostly Israel (33%), compared to 50.4% of West Bankers and 47.5% of Gazans. What is interesting in this regard is that a significant number of Palestinians in the West Bank (40.9%) and Gaza (45.4%) put the responsibility jointly on Israel and the Arab countries. What this may mean is that in the eyes of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, Arab governments did little in 1948 to come to the aid of Palestinian refugees. Or, worse, that they colluded with Israel in protecting their interests. A very small proportion put the responsibility solely on the Arab side (4.5% for Gazans, 3.5% for West Bankers, and 0.8% for the Palestinians in Israel).
    
• As anticipated, the Jewish respondents differed from their Palestinian counterparts on these two questions. With regard to the cause ofexpulsion, the largest single category of 31% went to those Israeli Jews who said that Jewish forces expelled Palestinian refugees, 29.9% said that the refugees left voluntarily, and 17.3% said they left because Arab leaders told them to leave. Around one-quarter, 23.3%, did not know. Turning to the responsibility for creating the refugee problem, 11.8% of Israeli Jews blamed Israel only (4.8%) or mostly (7.0%), and 35.5% blamed both Israel and the Arab side. In other words, close to half (47.3%) of Israeli Jews implicated Israel in one way or another with responsibility for creating the refugee problem. Of the Israeli Jewish respondents, a total of 43.3% blamed only (21.1%) or mostly (22.2%) the Arab side, and close to 10% did not know.
    
• In excess of 80% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza defined a just solution to the refugee problem in terms of applying the United Nations Resolution 194, while a very small number opted for leaving a just solution to be decided solely by Israel (1.8% for Gazans and 3.5% for West Bankers). Between 10 and 12 per cent of both groups said that a just solution involves the return of a limited number of refugees, depending on negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Among the Palestinians in Israel, the corresponding figure is 22%.
    
• Is it feasible to apply United Nations Resolution 194 for solving the refugee issue? The percentage agreeing to this varied from 66.8% for West Bankers and 58% among Gazans, to 49.2% for the Palestinians in Israel. The corresponding figures among the three groups who advocated the return of a limited number of refugees in the context of negotiations were as follows: 15.7%, 24.2%, and 29.6%, respectively. A very small number of between 6% and 8% said that Israel alone should decide on whoreturns from the refugees.
    
• A tiny minority of Israeli Jews endorsed United Nations Resolution 194 as either just (4.5%) or feasible (4.7%) solution for the refugee problem. The majority (57%) felt it was just for Israel to decide solely on who of the refugees goes back. Likewise, 51% left it for Israel solely to decide on the feasibility of solving the refugee problem. Around one-fifth of Israeli Jews endorsed the return of a limited number of refugees depending on negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Less than one per cent of Israeli Jews surveyed said that there is no refugee problem.
    
• While around 80% of the three Palestinian groups in the sample said that anyone wishing to return should be allowed to do so, among Israeli Jews the corresponding figure was 11.5%. Close to 43% of Israeli Jews said no refugee should be allowed to go back, and around one-third (32.6%) approved of the return of a limited number - from "few hundreds" to "few thousands" - in the context of negotiations between Israeland the Palestinians.
    
• Where should the Palestinian refugees be settled? A majority of the Jewish sample (57.2%) said that they should be settled in their present locations in the Middle East and elsewhere. One-third mentioned the Palestinian state as a possible place for absorbing the refugees, and only 5.3% approved of their return to their homes in Israel. The majority of Palestinians in the study (between 53% and 58%) wanted the refugees to go back to their homes, followed by settling them in the Palestinian state, or a combined place of settlement in Israel and the Palestinian state.
    
• Around 70% of the Palestinians in Israel said that Israel should compensate the refugees. Among Israeli Jews, the figure was 18%, while 41% of Israeli Jews named international bodies such as the UN as a possible source for compensation. Seventeen per cent of Israeli Jews denied any compensation to Palestinian refugees, and 20% named Arab governments as a source for compensating Palestinian refugees, and 11% chose the US. Palestinian respondents from Gaza and the West Bank answered the question with a breakdown of an additional category inserted in the questionnaire. Thus, 25% of West Bankers named Israel as the sole source for compensation, and 13.5% of Gazans said the same thing. However, in the additional combined responses, for a total of 46% of the West Bankers, Israel should be a party to payment of compensation; they named Israel and international bodies (32%), Israel and Arab governments (5.4%), Israel, international bodies and Arab governments (8.7%), and an additional group named international bodies and Arab governments (3.0%). A total of 58% of Gazans gave the following answers to the same breakdown, respectively: 27.2%, 15.5%, 6.8%, and 8.4%.
    
• Fifty-four per cent, 56%, and 70% of the three Palestinian samples in Gaza, West Bank and Israel, respectively, endorsed without any qualifications international law stipulating that displaced refugees should be allowed to return to their homes. Among Israeli Jews unqualified support for this principle extended to 18%. However, 52% of Israeli Jews endorsed this international law with qualifications, compared to 29% of Gazans, 27% of West Bankers, and 22% of the Palestinians in Israel.
    
• While close to 90% of the Palestinians sampledagreed that international law governing displacement displacement during time of war applies to the Palestinian refugees, among Israeli Jews it was 40%, and 50% of Israeli Jews disagreed with the applicability of the law to the Palestinian case.
    
• Knowledge about the number of Palestinian refugees varied in the groups studied. Among Israeli Jews, 37% could not estimate the number of refugees, and 31% placed it at less than one million. Only 9% gave figures approximating the actual number of between 3 to 4 million refugees and above. Of the four sampled groups, Gazans gave the most realistic estimate of the refugees: 3-4 million (22.5%), and 4 million and above (21.7%), followed by West Bankers at 18.2% and 16.4%, respectively. Palestinians in Israel were the least knowledgeable, with 42% saying they did not know how many refugees there are. But as we will show in the next section, extent knowledge is a function of age and gender.
    
• Palestinians in the West Bank estimated that 17.3% of all the refugees would take advantage of the right of return, 13% said between 2-3 million would return, 23.4% between 1-2 million, and about 30% estimated that less than 500,000 would return. Among Gaza respondents, the figures are: 10.7% for 4 million and more, 18.5% for 2-3 million, 32% for 1-2 million, and close to 30% estimated the number of returnees to be less than 500,000. Of the Israeli Jewish respondents and Palestinians in Israel, 31% and 42.8%, respectively, could not say how many would take advantage of the right of return. Fifty-eight per cent of the Jewish respondents estimated that less than one million refugees would take advantage of their right to return. However, 15.6% of the latter said that in excess of 4 million refugees would opt to return.
    
• Five questions on the questionnaire were common to both Israeli Jews and Palestinians in Israel, and did not include respondents from the West Bank and Gaza. To the question, should the issue of Palestinian refugees be discussed jointly with the issue ofJewish immigrants from the Arab countries, 46.4% of Israeli Jews said yes, compared to 22.6% of the Palestinians. However, 45% of the Jewish sample said that they should not be linked, compared to 54% of the Palestinians. Where they differed most was in the "Don't Know" response to the question: 23% for the Palestinians compared to 9% for Israeli Jews.
    
• Payment of compensation for Jewish immigrants from Arab countries was singled out as the responsibility of Arab governments by 43% of the Jewish respondents, compared to 7% forthe Palestinians in the Israeli sample. One-quarter of Israeli Jews said that international bodies such as the UN should compensate them, and 17.7% said no one should compensate Jewish immigrants. While Israel was mentioned by 8% of the Jewish sample as a source for compensating Jewish immigrants, the figure was 38% for the Palestinians sample in Israel.
    
• Knowledge about the existence of internal refugees was substantial among both groups of Israelis. Ninety per cent of the Palestinians in Israel knew aboutthe internally displaced refugees such as those of Ikrit and Bir'im, compared to 69% among Israeli Jews. While 93% of the Palestinians in Israel supported the return of internal refugees to their villages, among Israeli Jews the figure reached 35%, with 52% opposing their return.
    
• In response to the question, are you currently living on or making use of "abandoned Palestinian refugee property from 1948," 6% of Israeli Jews said "yes", and additional 8% said "maybe". Two per cent of the Palestinians said "yes".
    
• The final three questions were only given to the Palestinians in Israel. Forty-eight per cent said that they have relatives among the 1948 refugees, and 45% said that they would be willing to assist in the absorption of the refugees returning to their homes in Israel. More than ninety per cent (93.2%) advocated solving the problem of internal refugees in the context of solving the general Palestinian problem by returning the displaced to their villages (65.2%), or by compensating them either in kind or in cash (28%).
    
• Having relatives among the refugees had a strong effect on attitudes of the Palestinians in Israel. Fully 70% of those with relatives said they would be willing to help absorb the refugees should they return. Compared to other groups in the study, those with relatives saw the refugee issue as more salient on all counts, such as the relevance and applicability of Resolution 194, the issue of justice and feasibility, blaming Israel for the refugee exodus, etc.
    

As pointed out above, internal analysis of the Palestinian data will be carried out with regard to four variables. First, we will examine the relationship between gender and attitudes to the refugee issue. Second, the analysis will focus on comparing theattitudes of those who have relatives among the refugees to those who do not. Third, we will assess regional variations in the responses. Fourth, the association between age difference and attitudes to the refugee issue will be examined.

Gender Differences

Overall, gender proved to be a key variable in accounting for differences of opinion in the Palestinian sample from Israel. Generally speaking, women were less informed about the refugee issue, and they accounted for a disproportional number of respondents who answered "Don't Know".

• Slightly more than 50% of both men and women ranked Jerusalem first in terms of difficulty among the various final-status issues. Twelve per cent of the women and 16% of the men mentioned a Palestinian state, respectively, and refugees were mentioned in the first choice by 9% of the women and 12% of the men. If we consider the first three choices combined, 86% of the men mentioned Jerusalem, compared to 79% of the women. However, the issue of refugees was mentioned next in the first, second and third choice combined by 65% of the men in the sample compared to 47% of the women. More than one-third of the women placed "Don't Know" in their first second, and third choice, compared to 12% of the men. Palestinian state was included in the first, second and third choice by 48% of the men and 55% of the women.
    
• An identical proportion of men and women (48%) placed Jerusalem as their first choice in terms of importance. Palestinian state was ranked first by 14% of the men and women, while the refugee issue was ranked first by 16% of the men and 11% of the women.Turning to the combined three choices (first, second, and third choice), Jerusalem remained in the first place for both men (77.7%) and women (92.6%), although with twenty points difference. Refugees were placed in the second place by men (61%), in terms of the first three choices combined, compared to 44% of the women. More women (59%) than men (48%) placed Palestinian state in their first, second and thirdchoice combined. But the starkest gender contrast remains with regard to those saying they "Don't Know": 41% of the women and 12% of the men.
    
• There were no substantial differences in terms of the various causes given for the Palestinian exodus in 1948, with 59% of the women and 62% of the men saying that Jewish forces expelled the refugees. However, 17% of the women could not give a reason, compared to 5% of the men. This is true with regard to the question concerning responsibility behind Palestinian refugee exodus. Sixty-eight per cent of the women and 78% of the men blamed Israel solely for the exodus, and 18% of the former did not know, compared to 4% of the latter.
    
• One-Half of the women and close to three-quarters of the men said that the a just solution to refugee issue should be based on United Nations Resolution 194. Twenty-six per cent of the women and 18% of the men agreed for the return of a limited number of refugees to be decided in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. One-sixth of the women (16%) had no opinion on the subject, compared to 2% of the men.
    
• With regard to a feasible solution for the refugee issue, 41% of the women and 57% of the men referred to Resolution 194. Twenty-nine per cent of the women and 31% of the men endorsed the return of a limited number of refugees to be decided in negotiations, and 19% of the women, and 4% of the men did not know.
   
• Eighty-six per cent of the men and 78% of the women replied that any refugee who wants to go back home should be allowed to do so. Around 1% of each group said it should be left to Israel alone to decide on the number of returnees.
   
• Sixty per cent of the men and 57% of the women said that the refugees should be settled in their original homes, whereas additional 21% of the women and 24% of the men mentioned that they should be distributed jointly in Israel and the Palestinian state. A minority of between 10%-12% of both groups mentioned the Palestinian state as the sole place for settling the refugees. This is one of the few questions on which few women expressed no opinion (7%), and for men it was 2%.
   
• Men and women in almost identical proportions (69%) singled out Israel to compensate the refugees. Less than one per cent mentioned Arab governments as sources of compensation, and around 8% referred to international organizations as possible sources for compensation.
   
• The overwhelming majority the women (91%) and men (94%) generally endorsed international principles governing the return of refugees to their homes after the cessation of war conditions, and almost identical number of respondents from both sexes agreed that the principle of repatriation applies to the Palestinian refugees.
   
• The contrast between the answers of Palestinian men and women was greatest in questions seeking estimates of the actual number of refugees, and the number of those likely to return should this be possible. Sixty per cent of the women in the sample could not provide such estimates. Among the men, 27% did not know how many refugees there are, and 27% could not offer estimates of those who are likely to return to their homes. Close to one-quarter of the men (26%) said that the number of refugees is between 3-4 million and above 4 million, while 21% said that in excess of 4 million refugees would choose to return, another 21% said between 1-3 million would opt for return. Among the women, only 9% offered estimates of the refugee population ranging from 3 million and above; 6% estimated the number to be between 2-3 million, and the remaining 25% gave a figure from2 million and below. Women were even less sure about how many refugees would return, with 10% saying more than 4 million would return, 15% between 1-3 million, and 13% estimating that up to one million people would return.
   
• Two-thirds of the men and 42% ofthe women did not think that discussion over Palestinian refugees should be tied to that for Jewish immigrants from Arab countries. Around one-quarter of each group said that the two should be linked. Almost three times as many women (34%) as men (12%) said "Don't Know" to this question.
   
• Around one-quarter of both men and women did not think that compensation should be paid to Jewish immigrants, while between one-third of the women, and 41% of the men said that Israel should compensate these immigrants. Twenty per cent of the women and 5% of the men did not know.
   
• The overwhelming majority of men (93%) and women (86%) knew about the internal Palestinian refugees within Israel, and in excess of 90% of both groups said that Israel should allow the refugees to go back to their homes.

Relatives vs. no Relatives

In addition to the standard demographic questions such as gender, age, place of residence, income, education and marital status, the survey asked the respondents to indicate if they have relatives among the 1948 refugees, and if they themselves were internally displaced in 1948. A perusal of the data shows that compared to age, gender, place of residence, and whether or not the respondents have relatives among the 1948 refugees, the latter consistently adopted more salient views on the future of the refugees.

• With regard to the ranking in terms of difficulty in resolving the various final-status issues facing the negotiators, both groups ranked Jerusalem first. However, those who have relatives among the 1948 refugees placed refugees in second place, ahead of Palestinian state - in terms of both overall ranking (75.4%), as well as in terms of first choice ranking (19.7%). Palestinian with no relatives among the refugees placed Jerusalem first (75.9%) in their overall ranking, followed in descending order by Palestinian state (52.3%), Jewish settlements (44.1%), and refugees (42.3%). What is curious about the latter group is that 30% chose "Don't Know" as their first, second and third ranking combined. Among those with relatives among the refugees, the corresponding cumulative rankings for the " Don't Know" was 13.8%.
   
• The same pattern holds with regard to the follow-up question pertaining to the question of importance in resolving the final-status issues. Of those with relatives among the refugees, Jerusalem was placed in first, second and third choice by 82.8% of thesample, the refugees by 66.9%, and Palestinians state by 54.9%. The corresponding percentages for those with no relatives are 71.8% for Jerusalem, 55% for Palestinian state, and 39.6% for the refugees, thus placing them behind settlements which were ranked as first, second and third in importance by 46.8%.
   
• Of those who have refugee relatives, 71% said that Israeli forces expelled Palestinian refugees, compared to 53.2% of those who do not have relatives among the refugees.
   
• Among the two groups, more than twenty percentage points separated those who saw United Nations Resolution 194 as the most just instrument for solving the refugee problem: 72.8% to 51.4%.
   
• Fifty-eight per cent of those with relatives saw as feasible the applicability of Resolution 194, compared to 40% of those with no relatives among the refugees. As well, 32% of the latter group supported the return of a limited number of refugees and compensating the rest, based on an agreement between the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators. Of those with no relatives, thirteen per cent saw Israel as the sole decision-maker in terms of who allows the refugees to return, compared to a minuscule 3.3% of those with relatives among the refugees.
   
• Having a relative among the refugees meant an overwhelming endorsement of the right of return. More than ninety per cent of this group said that those refugees willing and can go back home inside Israel should be allowed to exercise this right, comparedto 75.6% among those with no relatives.
   
• Similarly, 68.6% among those with relatives said the refugees should be settled in their original villages in Israel, and an additional 21.8% said they should be distributed between Israel and the Palestinian state. The corresponding figures for those with no relatives were 52.7% and 22.7%, respectively. Very few, between 2%-4%, named the Arab countries as possible places for settling the refugees.
   
• Between two-thirds and 70% of both groups said that Israel should compensate the refugees, and a combined 80.7% of those with relatives named Israel as responsible alone (46.4%) or to a large extent (34.3%) for the Palestinian refugee exodus, compared toa combined 69% of those with no relatives.
   
• Around 80% among those with relatives supported international law stipulating the return of displaced people during time of war, and 78% defined it as applicable to Palestinian refugees, in contrast to two-thirds of those without relatives among the refugees who both endorsed international law in general terms, as well as its applicability to the Palestinian case.
   
• Around 47% of those with no relatives did not know how many refugees there are, compared to 39% for those with relatives. A minority of 8.8% of the latter and 4.1% of the former gave a figure of around 4 million refugees, and around 10% of each group gave a figure of between 3-4 million. Altogether between 14%-19% of the sample gave figures what could be roughly considered to approximate published data on refugees.
   
• More of those with kin among the refugees said that between 2-4 million would actually return (32.2%), in contrast to the other group with no relatives (21.8%). Between 38.5% to 47.7% of those with and without relatives, respectively, did not know how many would actually return.

Region

The sample was divided into three main regions: north, centre and south. The northern region consisted of 360 respondents selected from 14 localities; the central region consisted of 4 localities comprising 100 respondents; the remaining 40 respondents were selected from two localities in the south of the country. The sample included the two largest Arab towns in Israel, Nazareth in the north and Um El-Fahem in the centre. In addition Haifa, a mixed city in the north, was included in the sample. In interpreting the survey data it is important to bear in mind that the majority of Palestinian refugees who left the Galilee in the north ended up in Lebanon and Syria, while for those who came from the central regions their exodus took them to the West Bank and mainly to Jordan. Gaza, and to a much lesser extent Egypt, provided shelter to refugees from the south of the country.

• Jerusalem was chosen as the most difficult and important issueto settle in the upcoming final-status talks, regardless of region. However, there were important variations in the magnitude of the choices made. For example, the geographic pull is reflected in the fact that 91% of those who live in the centre of the country placed Jerusalem in their first choice in terms of difficulty and importance ? the highest proportion in the entire sample. Among respondents from the south, 52.5% placed Jerusalem in their first rank in terms of difficulty, but only 30% of those living in the south did so when it came to importance. Forty-two per cent of the respondents from the north had Jerusalem as their first choice in terms of difficulty, and 38% in terms of importance.
   
• The refugee issue was ranked as most difficult in the first choice by 14.7% of residents in the north, and 5% by respondents from the south. None of the residents from the centre placed refugees in their first choice, whether on the basis of importance or difficulty. However, if we calculate placement of the various final-status issues taking into account first, second and third choice combined, the refugee issue is more salient in terms of difficulty to those from the north (61%) than either the south (47.5%) or the centre (44%). With regard to importance, respondents from the north placed refugees (58.6%) in the first three choices combined after Jerusalem (74.7%). Forty-percent of those from the centre of the country made a similar ranking of the refugee issue, compared to 97% for Jerusalem. Contrast this to southern respondents, three-quarters of whom put "Don't Know" in their first, second and third choice ? the highest combined choices given to any of the items on the list. Jerusalem garnered a combined response of 40%, and the refugees 20%. The lack of knowledge and willingness to give answers among those from the south emerges as a typical feature in the responses, compared to the other regions.
   
• Seventy-one percent of respondents from the centre blamed Jewish forces for expelling Palestinian refugees, by far the highest percentage given by any single group in the sample. Both the north and south gave lower figures, 58.7% and 57.5%, respectively. This finding meshes with what we know from historical research about the extent of systematic expulsion of refugees in the centre of the country.
  
• Two-thirds of northern respondents said that the application of Resolution 194 should be the basis for a just solution to the refugee issue, in contrast to around one-half of those who said it is feasible. Fifty-six per cent of respondents from the central region endorsed Resolution 194 as just, compared to 47% who said it is feasible. One-third of the respondents from the centre saw a feasible solution as one involving the return of a limited number of refugees to be determined in negotiations. The same pattern holds for southern respondents: 52% defined Resolution 194 as just and 38% as feasible. However, around one-third of these respondents from the south either abstained from answering or did not know.
  
• Between 75% (south), 80% (north), and 92% (centre) said that any refugee wishing to return home should be allowed to do so. And between two-thirds (south and centre) and 57% (north) said that the refugees should be allowed to return to their original homes. The overwhelmingmajority of those who live in the north (97%) said that Israel should compensate the refugees, in contrast to 61% of northerners and 70% of southerners.
  
• Israel alone was thought to be responsible for the expulsion of the refugees by 95% of those who live in the central region, compared to around two-thirds from the north and south. In excess of 90% of the respondents agreed with international law concerning repatriation of displaced refugees during time of war, and a similar percentage agreed that international law should be applied to Palestinian refugees.
  
• Total lack of knowledge about how many refugees there are varied from 63% for those living in the south, 44% in the north, and 31% in the centre of the country. These percentages almost repeat themselves,when it comes to estimating the number of refugees who are likely to take advantage of the right of return. Around one-third of those who live in the centre and south said that between 2-3 million and 4 million people or more would come back, compared toone-quarter of northerners.
  
• Two-thirds of those from the centre did not think that the issue of Palestinian refugees should be linked to the issue of Jewish immigrants, compared to 45% of those from the south and 51% from the north.
  
• When it came to possible sources of compensation for Jewish immigrants to Israel, twice as many from the centre (42%) as from the north (21%) or south (20%) said no one should compensate them. However, for those who agreed that compensation should be paid, approximately one-third for each of the three regions, they named Israel.
  
• The overwhelming majority (90% or more) knew about the internal refugees, and a similar proportion agreed that Israel should allow them to go back to their homes. Very few (around 2%) said that they do live on or make use of refugee property, although 17% of those from the south said that they do not know.
  
• Three-quarters of those from the south, and half of those from the north said that they have relatives among the refugees, in contras to a minority of 16% from the centre of the country. However, it is mostly among those from the north who expressed willingness to help in the absorption of the refugees should they return (55%), compared to between one-fifth for those from the centre and one-fourth for those from the south. In all likelihood, this has to do with the fact that those in the north are familiar with the dire circumstances in which their kin among the refugees in Lebanon live.
  
• Regardless of region, the majority of respondents agreed that the problem of internal refugees should be considered in the context of the general Palestinian problem. The overwhelming majority (91%) of those from the centre called for repatriation of theinternal refugees to their homes, whereas those from the north mentioned return (57%) and compensation in cash or kind (34%). The corresponding percentages for those from the south are 73% who called for the return of the internal refugees to their homes, and 20% for compensation.

Age

As shown in Appendix E, the sample was divided into four age groups: 18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-60, and 60+. More than 85% of the sample were born after Israel came into being in 1948.

• Jerusalem was selected by all age groups as the most difficult issue to be tackled in final- status talks. Among the younger age groups, Palestinian state and refugees vied for second place in the first choice placement. Older age groups, those 46 years of age and above, ranked Palestinian state second in their first choice list. However, if examine the ranking based on first, second and third choice combined, except for the 60-year old, the refugee issue is ranked second after Jerusalem, with Palestinian state ranked third. The older the respondent is, the more likely that he or she will not answer the question,or opt for "Don't Know". The group that is likely to give a ranking based on the six final-status topics are those between 26-35 years of age.
  
• Wit regard to importance, Jerusalem maintained its position at the top of the list. The 18-25 and 36-45 age groups placed the refugee issue in second place in the three combined choices, while the 26-35 placed the refugee issue in second place, and the remaining two age groups placed the refugee issue in the fourth place in the combined list of choices.
  
• There is little difference among the various age groups in terms of who caused the refugee problem in 1948, with between 54% of the 26-35 age group saying mainly Israel, to two-thirds of the combined 46-60 year olds blaming Israel mainly for expelling the refugees. Thesame picture obtains with regard to responsibility for the refugee problem. Between 61% and 75% put the responsibility squarely on Israel.
  
• More of the younger age groups (18-45 years of age), compared to those who are older (46 years and above) said that it is both just and feasible to apply United Nations Resolution 194 to solve the refugee issue. With regard to justice, the range varied from 50% for the older groups to 67% for the younger ones, and with regard to feasibility of Resolution 194, its endorsement among the younger groups reached a high of 67%, compared to around to 40% among the older ones.
  
• By the same token from a low of 71% for the oldest age group in the sample to a high of mid- to upper-80 percentage points for the two youngest groups in the sample endorse the proposition that anyone wishing to go back home should be allowed to do so. Between one-half and two-thirds say that the refugees should be settled in their original homes, and an additional one-quarter say that they should be distributed between the Palestinian state and the places from which they came inside Israel. Settling the refugees in their current places of residence was accepted by mere 3% for the younger groups, to around 9% for the older ones.
  
• Except for the oldest group in the sample (56%), who said Israel should be the main source to compensate the refugees, the corresponding figure for the rest of the sample hovered around 70%. It is significant that around one-fifth of the oldest group of 60 years of age and above,either did not know or registered no answer to this question.
  
• Age did not influence the responses to the two questions related to international law and repatriation of refugees. From 80%-90% supported the law generally, and its applicability to Palestinian refugees.
  
• There is a clear relationship between age and knowledge about the number of Palestinian refugees. Almost two-thirds of the eldest group, and 55% of the 46-60 year-olds, could not give an estimate of the number of refugees, and when they did, they tended to cluster their choices in the 1-2 million category, or lower. While the younger age groups (18-36) are far from giving accurate estimates for the number of refugees, slightly more than one-third opted for "Don't Know," and one-fifth estimated the number to be close to between 3-4 million and above. The same picture repeats itself with regard to the likely number of refugees who would be willing to take advantage of the right to return home. While one-third of the younger groups compared to two-thirds of the oldest group could not give an estimate, between 25% and 30% of the younger ones cited numbers ranging from 2-3 millions and 4 millions and above.
  
• There is clear demarcation between the 18-45 year olds, all of whom were born after 1948, and those who are 46 years of age and above, when it comes to views about perceptions of the Palestinian refugee problem and that of Jewish immigrants from the Arab countries. Whereas between 55% and 60% of the younger group saw no link between the two issues, among the two older groups, around one-third subscribed to the same view. Fully 40% of the two older groups did not express an opinion on the subject, compared to an average of 20% for the three younger ones.
  
• There was no clear pattern relating age to advocating means of compensating Jewish immigrants. Between one-third and 40% said that Israel should compensate them. However, among the older age groups there was a tendency to say "Don't Know" or not answer the question, reaching a combined figure of 30% among the oldest group in the sample.
  
• Knowledge about the existence of internal refugees was widespread reaching 90% of the sample with little age variation in the answers. There is an identical level of support for their return to their villages.
  
• One area in which the youngest and the oldest in the sample converged is in terms of their response to the question of whether or not they have relatives among the refugees. Bearing in mind that the Palestinian refugees are into their fourth generation now, we discover that among the 18-25, 16% did not answer or said they do not know, compared to 6% for the 26-35, 4% for the 36-60 groups, and 12% for those who are 60 years of age and older. However, more of the older age groups than younger ones expressed willingness to help in settling the refugees should they go back, ranging from one-third for the youngest group in the sample, to slightly more than 50% for the older groups.
  
• Finally, there was an agreement that solving the general Palestinian problem should take into account the problem of internal refugees, with the majority of around two-thirds opting for the return of internal refugees to their homes, and an additional one-fourth advocating compensation either in cash or in kind.

Questions 1-13 were given to Jews in Israel, Palestinians in Israel ,and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
 
 

1) In your opinion, of the following issues discussed in the framework of the Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations, which are the three most difficult for the two sides to find an agreeable solution to? Please indicate the most difficult issue, the second most difficult and the third.
 

Most Difficult	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)					Israeli Jews (N=500)
	Rank					Rank
	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank
Palestinian State	14.2	20.4	17.2	51.8	3	7.2	16.7	14.5	38.4	4
Jerusalem	53.2	23.4	6.2	82.8	1	70.9	13.7	4.4	89.0	1
Borders	1.4	11.4	7.2	20.0	6	4.8	17.3	17.5	39.7	3
Refugees	11.0	15.8	29.8	56.6	2	7.2	15.4	14.3	36.8	5
Water	3.8	1.6	4.2	9.7	8	2.1	9.3	11.7	23.1	7
Jewish Settlements	5.0	13.6	18.2	36.8	4	3.8	19.8	21.8	45.5	2
Don't Know	8.4	8.4	8.4	25.2	5	3.3	7.4	14.9	25.6	6
No Answer	3.0	5.4	8.8	17.2	7	-	-	-	-
Other Answer	-	-	-	-		0.8	0.3	0.8	1.6	7
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%			100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Most Difficult	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)					Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
	Rank					Rank
	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank
Palestinian State	16.3	10.4	9.4	36.1	4	10.3	19.5	9.4	39.2	4
Jerusalem	52.2	20.6	12.2	85.0	1	66.4	17.6	5.3	99.3	1
Borders	3.7	10.8	14.8	26.3	5	1.1	5.5	7.5	14.1	7
Refugees	9.3	26.5	23.9	59.7	2	7.1	29.0	21.5	57.6	2
Water	3.1	6.5	9.7	19.3	6	3.9	7.1	13.7	24.7	5
Jewish Settlements	11.3	20.5	24.8	56.6	3	7.3	15.8	30.6	53.7	3
Don't Know	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
No Answer	4.1	4.7	6.0	14.8	7	3.9	5.5	11.9	21.3	6
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%			100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

*Throughout the survey, the questionnaire administered to the Palestinians in Israel differentiated between "Don't Know" as an informational response, and "No Answer" indicating the respondent did not wish to answer the question.
 
 
 
 

2. In your opinion, which of above issues are the three most important for the two sides to find an agreeable solution to? Please rank, as above.
 

Most Important Issue	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)					Israeli Jews (N=500)
	Rank					Rank
	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank
Palestinian State	13.8	20.4	19.4	53.6	2	13.8	14.0	12.1	38.4	4
Jerusalem	48.2	22.0	6.2	76.4	1	48.4	18.8	9.2	89.0	1
Borders	1.8	8.8	7.0	17.6	6	12.1	17.1	15.3	39.7	2
Refugees	13.6	14.6	24.4	52.6	3	5.2	13.3	10.3	36.8	7
Water	5.8	3.8	4.0	13.6	8	6.4	10.4	13.0	23.1	6
Jewish Settlements	5.6	16.2	19.0	40.8	4	4.6	13.2	22.3	45.5	3
Don't Know	8.6	8.6	8.6	25.8	5	6.6	12.6	17.2	36.4	5
No Answer	2.6	5.6	11.4	19.6	7	-	-	-	-
Other Answer	-	-	-	-		2.8	0.6	0.6	3.3	7
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%			100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Most Important Issue	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)					Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
	Rank					Rank
	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank	1	2	3	Total	Overall Rank
Palestinian State	18.0	10.0	12.2	40.2	4	11.9	13.7	11.6	37.2	4
Jerusalem	48.7	21.0	10.6	80.3	1	55.0	18.0	5.3	78.3	1
Borders	6.0	13.5	14.3	33.8	5	2.5	8.2	9.1	19.8	7
Refugees	9.2	24.7	24.8	58.7	2	9.4	29.2	18.7	57.3	2
Water	4.5	7.6	9.6	21.7	6	7.3	8.9	13.5	29.7	5
Jewish Settlements	11.0	19.7	24.3	55.0	3	9.4	14.2	29.7	53.3	3
Don't Know	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
No Answer	2.6	3.5	4.2	10.3	7	4.5	7.8	12.1	24.4	6
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%			100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

3) What caused the 1948 Palestinian refugee problem in the first instance?
 

Cause of the Refugee Problem	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Mainly, the refugees left voluntarily	6.0	29.9	4.5	3.2
Mainly, the refugees were told to leave by Arab leaders	1.0	17.3	6.2	5.5
Mainly, Jewish forces expelled the refugees	60.8	31.0	56.4	63.5
Combination of the above (indicate which ones)	19.4	4.7	18.2	10.5
Other Answer	-	-	5.0	7.1
Don't Know	10.8	23.3	4.3	5.8
No Answer	2.0	-	1.3	2.3
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

4) Which of the following solutions to the refugee issue is most just in your opinion?

1. Should be based on UN Resolution 194 which calls for the right of return to all the Palestinian refugees and compensation to those who do not return.
2. The returning of a limited number of Palestinian refugees to Israel and suitable compensation to those who will not return based on an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
3. Only those who are approved by Israel should be allowed to return and compensation to those who do not return.

Most Just Solution	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
a) UN Resolution 194	61.4	4.5	81.1	82.6
b) Return of a limited number	22.0	14.9	10.4	12.2
c) Only those approved by Israel	5.0	56.8	3.5	1.8
There is no refugee problem	1.6	0.2	0.5	0.0
Don't know	9.2	5.0	-	-
No answer	0.8	18.7	4.5	3.4
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 
 
 

5. Under the present circumstances, which of the above solutions looks most feasible to you?
 

Most Feasible Solution	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
UN Resolution 194	49.2	4.7	66.8	58.0
Return of a limited number	29.6	20.8	15.7	24.2
Only those approved by Israel	7.8	50.8	6.6	6.2
There is no refugee problem	1.6	0.2	0.5	0.2
Don't Know	11.0	7.2	-	--
No Answer	0.8	-	10.4	11.4
Other Answer	-	16.3*	-	-
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

*In the Israeli Jewish sample, "Other Answer" included the following: 10.0% said none of the given options are possible; 0.7% said all are possible, and 5.0% offered other solutions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

6. What is the number of refugees who should be allowed to return?
 

Number of Refugees Allowed to Return	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
None should be allowed to return	0.6	42.7	1.6	0.6
Few hundreds should be allowed to return	1.4	21.9	3.5	2.3
Few thousands should be allowed to return	4.6	10.7	12.1	8.7
Anyone wishing to return should be allowed to return	82.2	11.5	77.7	82.9
Don't know	9.6	13.1	-	-
No answer	1.6	-	5.1	5.5
	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 

7. Where should the Palestinian refugees be permanently settled?
 

Where Refugees Should Be Resettled	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Mainly in their original homes inside Israel	58.2	5.3	53.2	54.9
Mainly in places within the Palestinians state	11.2	32.3	30.3	28.5
Mainly in the Palestinian state and inside Israel	22.6*	-	-	-
Mainly in their present places of residence in the Middle East or elsewhere	2.4	57.2	7.6	6.8
Don't know	4.6	5.2	7.5	8.2
No answer	0.4	-	1.4	1.6
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

*Category was included only in the survey of Palestinians in Israel.
 
 
 
 

8. Who should compensate the refugees?
 

Source of Compensation	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
No one	1.2	17.0	2.1	1.1
Israel	69.0	18.3	25.3	13.5
International bodies such as the UN	8.0	41.3	13.3	15.1
Arab governments	0.6	29.9	5.9	4.8
US	0.2	11.4	-	-
Any combination of the above (indicate which ones)	12.6	-	49.1*	57.9*
Don't know	7.4	5.7	-	-
No answer	1.0	-	4.1	3.7
Other answers	-	-	0.2	2.9
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

*Assignment of blame reflects a combined response of three categories:

Israel + Arab governments

Israel + International Bodies + Arab Governments

Israel + International Bodies
 
 
 
 

9. There are different opinions on the question of who is responsible for the creation of the refugee problem in 1948 ? Israel or the Arabs. In your opinion who is the responsible side?
 

Responsible for Creating the Refugee Problem	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Only Israel	40.6	4.8	15.5	18.3
Mostly Israel	33.0	7.0	34.9	29.2
Israel and the Arab side to the same extent	9.6	35.0	40.9	45.4
Mostly Arab side	4.6	22.2	-	-
Only the Arab side	0.8	21.1	3.5	4.1
Don't know	10.8	9.9	-	-
No answer	0.6	-	4.2	3.0
	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 
 
 

10. According to international law, people who have left their homes voluntarily or by force because of war conditions are entitled to return back once hostilities end. Do you agree or disagree with this principle?
 

Opinions on International Law	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Agree without any qualifications	70.4	18.2	55.8	54.1
Depending on the circumstances	22.4	51.8	27.0	29.0
Do not agree	1.2	25.3	8.4	5.9
Don't know	5.0	4.7	6.6	9.6
No answer	1.0	-	2.2	1.4
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 
 
 

11. Do you agree or disagree that this principle [of international law] applies to the case of the Palestinian refugees?
 

Applicability of International Law to Palestinian Case	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Strongly Agree	69.2	10.9	47.1	45.7
Agree	22.8	29.2	35.5	37.2
Disagree	1.6	21.7	8.9	4.3
Strongly Disagree	0.0	29.7	1.0	1.6
Don't Know	5.4	8.4	7.0	9.4
No Answer	1.0	-	2.5	1.8
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 

12. What do you think is the overall number of the Palestinian refugees today (the term Palestinian refugees refers to those who left or forced to leave their homes because of the 1948 War and their descendants).
 

Estimate Number of Refugees	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Up to 1 million	19.8	31.7	11.6	10.5
1-2 million	9.6	15.4	18.2	18.3
2-3 million	9.6	6.6	19.2	16.0
3-4 million	10.6	4.9	16.4	22.5
4 million or more	6.8	4.1	18.2	21.7
Don't Know	42.8	37.3	-	-
No Answer	0.8	-	16.4	11.0
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

 
 
 

13. Can you please try and assess how many Palestinian refugees will actually use the right of return if granted to them and leave their present places of residence and move to Israel?
 

Estimate Number of Returning Refugees	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)	Palestinians in West Bank (N=762)	Palestinians in Gaza (N=438)
Up to 100,000	4.4	23.0	10.8	6.8
100,000 - 500,000	11.6	14.2	17.6	22.2
500,000 - 1 million	6.8	21.0	*	*
1-2 million	7.2	-*	23.4	32.0
2-3 million	11.0	5.5	13.1	18.5
3-4 million	-*	1.2	*	*
4 million and up	15.6	4.0	17.3	10.7
Don't Know	42.8	31.2	-	-
No Answer	0.6	-	17.8	9.8
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

*Category was not included in question.
 
 
 
 

Questions numbers 14-18 were only given to Jewish and Palestinian respondents in Israel
 
 

14. It was suggested that when discussing the issue of compensating the Palestinian refugees for their lost property,the issue of the property left behind in Arab States, such as Morocco or Iraq, by the Jews who immigrated to Israel because of the growing tensions following the 1948 War, should also be taken into consideration.

There is another opinion that the two issues are not connected to each other and therefore there is no reason to discuss them in the framework of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the settlement of the Palestinians refugee issue. Which of these two arguments do you find correct?
 

	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)
Should be discussed together	22.6	46.4
Not related and should not be connected	53.6	44.7
Don't Know	22.6	8.9
No Answer	1.2	-
Total	100.0%	100.0%

 

15. Who should compensate Jewish immigrants to Israel who lost property in Arab countries?
 

Source of Compensation for Jewish Immigrants	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)
No one	25.2	17.7
Palestinians	1.0	-*
Israel	37.4	7.8
Responsible Arab governments where immigrants lived	7.4	43.1
International bodies such as the UN	6.6	25.8
US	0.2	6.0
Combination of the above (indicate which ones)	9.4	*
Don't Know	12.2	6.5
No Answer	1.4	-
Total	100.0%	100.0%

*Was not asked.
 
 

16. Do you know if there are to-day Palestinian refugees (" displaced") living in Israel who left or had been forced to leave their homes during the 1948 war?
 

Knowledge of Internal Palestinian Refugees in Israel	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)
Yes	89.6	69.4
No	4.8	8.7
Don't Know	4.0	21.9
No Answer	1.6	-
Total	100.0%	100.0%

 

17. Do you agree or disagree that the Israeli Government should allow these refugees, such as those from Ikrit and Bir'am, to return to back to their villages?
 

Israeli Government Should Allow Internal Refugees Back	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)
Strongly Agree	76.2	8.2
Agree	17.0	26.7
Disagree	1.8	28.1
Strongly Disagree	0.0	23.8
Don't Know	4.2	13.2
No Answer	0.8	-
Total	100.0%	100.0%

 

18. Considering the property left behind by the refugees of 1948, are you currently living on or making use of such property in any way?
 

Living on or Making Use of Refugee Property	Palestinians in Israel (N=500)	Israeli Jews (N=500)
Yes	2.2	6.3/8.3*
No	87.6	82.8
Don't Know	9.2	2.6
No Answer	1.0	--
Total	100.0%	100.0%

*Of the Israeli Jewish sample, 6.3% said "yes" and 8.3% said "maybe".

Questions numbers 19-21 were only given to the Palestinians in Israel (N=500)
 
 

1. Do you have any relatives among the 1948 refugees?

Yes	47.8%
No	44.0
Don't Know	6.8
No Answer	1.4
Total	100.0%

 
 
 

1. Would you be willing to assist in absorbing those refugees who need assistance and are able to return to their

homes in Israel?
 

Yes	45.4%
No	9.8
Don't Know	33.2
No Answer	11.4
Total	100.0%

 
 
 

1. Should the solution to the Palestinian problem in general also include solving the problem of internal refugees in

Israel?
 

Yes (by returning them to their villages)	65.2%
Yes (by compensating them, through land or money)	28.0
No	3.0
No Answer	3.8
Total	100.0%

Demographics of the Palestinians in Israel

Sample size: 500

Selection Method: Random selection based on Interior Ministry computerized voters' list

Type of sample: Stratified selection from 20 localities according to region, size of locality
 
 

320Internal Refugee/Non-Refugee Status
 

Internal refugees	116	23.2%
Not internal refugees	380	76.0
Coding error	4	0.8

Gender
 

Men	252	50.4%
Women	244	48.8
Coding error	4	0.8

Regional Distribution
 

North	360	72.0%
Center	100	20.0
South	40	08.0

 

Age Distribution
 

18-25	138	27.6%
26-35	141	28.2
36-45	113	22.6
46-60	74	14.8
60+	34	6.8

Marital status
 

Single	140	28.0%
Married	329	65.8
Divorced/separated	10	02.0
Widowed	17	03.4
No Answer	4	0.8

Educational Level
 

Up to elementary	110	22.0%
Up to grade nine	104	20.8
Up to secondary	151	30.2
Post-secondary	76	15.2
University and beyond	49	09.8
No Answer	10	0.2

Income Level

What is your family income compared to an average Arab family income of 5,500 New Israeli Shekels per month?
 

Substantially higher	3	06.0%
Somewhat higher	24	4.8
Close to the average	183	36.6
Somewhat lower	140	28.0
Substantially lower	130	26.0
No Answer	10	4.0

The Questionnaire

1. In your opinion, of the following issues discussed in the framework of the Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations, which are the three most difficult for the two sides to find an agreeable solution to? Please indicate the most difficult issue, the second most difficult and the third.

• Palestinian state
• Jerusalem
• Borders
• Refugees
• Water
• Jewish settlements
• Don't Know
• No answer

2. In your opinion, which of above issues are the three most important for the two sides to find an agreeable solution to? Please rank, as above.

3. What caused the 1948 Palestinian refugee problem in the first instance

• Mainly, the refugees left voluntarily
• Mainly, the refugees were told to leave by Arab leaders
• Mainly, Jewish forces expelled the refugees
• Combination of the above (indicate which ones)
• Don't Know
• No answer

4. Which of the following solutions to the refugee issue is most just in your opinion?

• Should be based on UN Resolution 194 which calls for the right of return to all the Palestinian refugees and compensation to those who do not return.
• The returning of a limited number of Palestinian refugees to Israel and suitable compensation to those who will not return based on an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
• Only those who are approved by Israel should be allowed to return and compensation to those who do not return.
• There is no refugee problem.
• Don't Know
• No answer

5. Under the present circumstances, which of the above solutions looks most feasible to you?

6. What is the number of refugees who should be allowed to return:

• None should be allowed to return
• Few hundreds should be allowed to return
• Few thousands should be allowed to return
• Anyone wishing to return should be allowed to return
• Don't Know
• No answer

7. Where should the Palestinian refugees be permanently settled:

• Mainly in their original homes inside Israel
• Mainly in places within the Palestinians state
• Mainly in the Palestinian state and inside Israel]
• Mainly in their present places of residence in the Middle East or elsewhere.
• D'K
• No answer

8. Who should compensate the refugees:

• No one
• Israel
• International bodies, such as the UN
• Arab governments
• US
• Any combination of the above (indicate which ones)
• Don't Know
• No answer

1. There are different opinions on the question who is responsible for the creation of the refugee problem in 1948, Israel or the Arabs. In your opinion who is the responsible side?

• Only Israel
• Mostly Israel
• Israel and the Arab side to the same extent
• Mostly the Arab side
• Only the Arab side
• Don't Know
• No answer

10. According to international law, people who have left their homes voluntarily or by force because of war conditions are entitled to return back once hostilities end. Do you agree or disagree with this principle?

• Agree without any qualifications
• Depending on the circumstances
• Do not agree
• Don't Know
• No answer

11. Do you agree or disagree that this principle [of international law] applies to the case of the Palestinian refugees?

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
• Don't Know
• No answer

12. What do you think is the overall number of the Palestinian refugees today (the term Palestinian refugees refers to those who left or forced to leave their homes because of the 1948 War and their descendants).

• Up to 1 million
• 1-2 millions
• 2-3 millions
• 3-4 millions
• 4 or more
• Don't Know
• No answer

13. Can you please try and assess how many Palestinian refugees will actually use the right of return if granted to them and leave their present places of residence and move to Israel?

• Up to 100,000
• 100,000 - 500,00
• 500,000 - 1 million
• 1 -2 million
• 2-3 million
• 3-4 million
• 4 million and up
• Don't Know
• No answer

The following five questions were given to Israeli [Arab and Jewish] respondents only:

14. It was suggested that when discussing the issue of compensating the Palestinian refugees for their lost property, the issue of the property left behind in Arab States, such as Morocco or Iraq, by the Jews who immigrated to Israel because of the growing tensions following the 1948 War, should also be taken into consideration. There is another opinion that the two issues are not connected to each other and therefore there is no reason to discuss them in the framework of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the settlement of the Palestinians refugee issue. Which of these two arguments do you find correct?

• The first, that the two issues should be discussed together.
• The second, that the two issues are not and should not be connected.
• Don't Know
• No answer

15. Who should compensate Jewish immigrants to Israel who lost property in Arab countries?

• No one
• Palestinians
• Israel
• Responsible Arab governments where immigrants lived
• International bodies, such as the UN
• US
• Combination of the above (indicate which ones)
• Don't Know
• No answer

16. Do you know if there are to-day Palestinian refugees ("internal") living in Israel who left or had been forced to leave their homes during the 1948 war?

• Yes
• No
• Don't Know
• No answer

17. Do you agree or disagree that the Israeli Government should allow these refugees, such as those from Ikrit and Bir'am, to return to back to their villages?

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree
• Don't Know
• No answer

18. Considering the property left behind by the refugees of 1948, are you currently living on or making use of such property in any way?

• Yes
• No
• Don't Know
• No answer

The following three questions were given to Palestinian respondents in Israel only

1. Do you have any relatives among the 1948 refugees?

• Yes
• No
• Don't Know
• No answer

20. Would you be willing to assist in absorbing those refugees who need assistance and are able to return to their homes in Israel?

• Yes
• No
• Don't Know
• No answer

21. Do you think that the solution to the refugee problem should also include solving the problem of internal refugees inside Israel?

• Yes, they should be returned to their villages
• Yes, they should be compensated (either through alternate land or cash)
• No
• No answer