Key facts
- 50% of those surveyed said settlement and construction policy in the West Bank should be adjusted to avoid sanctions escalation.
- 71% of Change bloc voters backed adjusting settlements policy, against 14% of Netanyahu bloc voters.
- 63% of all respondents opposed the UK ban on goods from illegal settlements; 26% supported it outright or conditionally.
- 52% supported sanctions on individual violent settlers, but 70% of Netanyahu bloc supporters opposed foreign sanctions in all circumstances.
- 36% agreed settlement policy should continue even if bank sanctions raised interest rates or hampered transfers and card use abroad.
- Three-quarters of Netanyahu bloc supporters said UK sanctions and the trade ban did not affect their vote at all.
Half of Israelis surveyed said the government should adjust its West Bank settlement and construction policy to avoid an escalation of sanctions and international isolation, according to a poll by Israeli social research group aChord reported by the Guardian. The survey, conducted last month, examined how the tougher line adopted by Britain and other states affected Israeli voters.
The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, announced in September a ban on trade in goods from illegal settlements and wider sanctions. The poll found 76% of respondents had heard of the announcement, and four-fifths of those aware knew the policy applied to the West Bank rather than the whole of Israel.
Among supporters of the bloc backing Benjamin Netanyahu, three-quarters said the UK sanctions and trade ban did not affect their vote at all, and any shift they caused ran both ways with no detectable net effect. Only 14% of Netanyahu bloc voters backed adjusting settlements policy, against 71% of voters for the opposition Change bloc of parties backing Gadi Eisenkot.
Support for sanctions was narrower when goods were involved: 63% of all respondents opposed the UK import ban, while 26% supported it outright or said they would if it were clear the ban did not apply to goods from outside settlements. A majority, 52%, supported sanctions on individual violent settlers provided they targeted only those acting violently, but 70% of Netanyahu bloc supporters opposed foreign sanctions in all circumstances.
Concern rose when voters felt a personal cost. Only 36% agreed settlement policy should continue if sanctions on banks financing construction in illegal settlements led to higher interest rates, difficulties transferring money abroad or problems using credit cards abroad.
Hannah Weisfeld, director of the British-Jewish organisation Yachad, said the research shows the Israeli public recognises that without a policy shift on settlements the international community is likely to create incentives from outside, and that this underlines the importance of UK and other allies acting against the occupation.