Israeli support for West Bank pullout falls- Poll

JERUSALEM, June 9: Israeli support for a proposed unilateral withdrawal from parts of the occupied West Bank has tumbled to 37 per cent, a poll published today showed, less than two-thirds of the backing it had four months ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan is to remove isolated Jewish settlements while bolstering several larger blocs to draw Israel's borders unilaterally if peace talks with the Palestinians are not revived.

Palestinians object to the plan as a potential land-grab that could deprive them of territory they want for a state.

A survey in the Haaretz newspaper found just 37 per cent of Israelis support the plan while 56 per cent are opposed.

Olmert won a general election in March on a pledge to carry out the pullback, and a poll in February showed nearly 60 percent of Israelis supported the idea.

But the plan has come under growing public criticism since Hamas militants, sworn to destroying Israel, took hold of the Palestinian government in March following their election victory.

Support for the plan has also slipped as a result of continued rocket attacks by militants based in the Gaza Strip despite Israel's withdrawal from the territory last year.

The poll did not say why support for the plan had slipped.

Responding to the poll results, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres renewed a call for Israel to renew long stalled peace talks with the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but said that Israel need not abandon the plan altogether.

''I think that now we should stress bilateral talks, that's the real situation. I hope we are serious people and want to exhaust what we can do by bilateral agreement,'' Peres said.

The poll had a 4.4 per cent margin of error.

Reuters