Israelis and Palestinians have always been on the cusp of all-out war, but now that Trump has declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it appears that both sides are ready to finally pull the trigger, both figuratively and very, very literally.
The Times of Israel reported that a joint poll published by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research (TSC), Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah showed that Palestinians and Israel are more in favor of going to war with one another than ever before, now consisting of the majority of the population.
According to the poll, support for war has almost doubled among the Palestinians, while military solutions among Israelis skyrocketed by almost 60 percent.
What’s more, The Times of Israel reports that those open to seeking peaceful solutions are down dramatically:
When asked what should happen next, just 26% percent of Palestinians chose the option of a peace deal, a staggering decline from 45% last June. Thirty-eight percent supported armed struggle, up from just 21% in the previous survey.
A similar but less extreme trend was seen among Israeli Jews. Thirty-eight percent said a peace deal should be sought, down from 45% six months ago, and the percentage of supporters for a “decisive military offensive” to end the conflict increased from 12% to 19%.
All experts point to Trump’s Jerusalem declaration as the reason calls for violence have risen.
Calls for violence among Palestinian groups is nothing new, however. Terrorist organizations have been calling for violence since Trump made the Jerusalem declaration, including the leader of Hamas, who said he wanted to make Trump regret his decision.
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