A study conducted by the Geneva Initiative, the people that brought us the Geneva Accord (yes, the ones that failed miserably and were conducted without official Israeli government participation) claim that 46% of the Jewish population of Israel wants the government to negotiate with the unity government currently being established.
I don’t buy it. I want to see the questions asked and the study data. I especially want to see the questions, because that is the most important part of any poll. It’s extremely easy to bias a poll to get a desired result.
Forty-six percent of the Jewish population in Israel supports renewing negotiations with a Palestinian unity government if and when it is established, reveals a study conducted on behalf of the Geneva Initiative.
The survey found that 37.4 percent object to such negotiations and 16.1 percent of the people asked replied that they did not know.
I haven’t found that poll yet, but I found another poll on the Geneva Initiative website from the end of January that claims that 70.2% of Israelis want to begin final status negotiations. Here isthe relevant question:
Among the following options, which would you prefer?
To begin negotiations on a final status agreement 70.2%
To begin negotiations on an interim agreement which will include a long-term ceasefire 19.7%
Neither option 7.5%
Undecided 2.6%
Notice how one of the choices is not “To negotiate a peace agreement in stages, moving forward based upon completion of those stages,” which is exactly what the Road Map proposed. This is an invalid question. It is a choice between a cease-fire and a peace treaty. It doesn’t prove that Israelis want to jump to final status negotiations. It proves that given the choice between a cease-fire and a chance to end hostilities permanently, Israelis want to end hostilities permanently. And may I say: Duh.
Mind you, this is to be expected from the architects of the Geneva Accord, who, once again, conducted negotiations without government backing, permission, or advice. They have been dishonest negotiators from the get-go. I am not surprised that their polls are biased.
On the other hand, this question is very telling. When the poll asked Israelis what they think will happen in the event an agreement is reached, half of them said it won’t be worth the paper it’s written on:
Do you or do you not believe that it is possible to reach a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians and to end the conflict?
Believe it is possible 46.6%
Believe it is impossible 49.9%
Undecided 3.5%
There is also a poll question regarding Hamas that is germaine to the new poll:
Do you support or oppose Israeli negotiations with the Hamas Government?
Support 29.4%
Oppose 62.6%
Undecided 8.0%
Nearly two-thirds of Israelis want nothing to do with Hamas. That’s why I want to see the poll questions. I don’t trust the poll. I want to see the choice in the “unity government” question. Judging by the above questions, the new poll is going to be just as slanted as the one from January.
And this, dear readers, is why my tagline is: Cutting straight to the point. The point of this poll is bullshit. And so is this:
“Our studies, performed on a regular basis, show us that the majority of Israelis demand that the government return to the negotiation table. They accept the outline of the Geneva Accord as a basis for the permanent solution. The prime minister (Ehud Olmert) has to answer the challenge and start the dialogue without delay,” Baltiansky said.
Uh-huh. Show me the questions, Baltiansky. Show me the questions.
The question
“Do you believe that the President was mistaken in his Iraq policy”
X% say yes.
Of those they do not differentiate between those who say we should unleash the troops and go all out for victory and those who want to pull out now and accept defeat.
This is a good example of how asking the wrong question affects matters.