Should Palestine Be A State? Benjamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas Bad For Peace Says West Bank, Gaza

Poll results released Tuesday by a Ramallah-based think tank showed that nearly two-thirds of Palestinians did not believe in a two-state solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict and were eager for Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to resign.

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, an independent, non-profit research organization, asked 1,270 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip their views on a number of issues including the peace process, Palestinian political leadership and recent socio-political events that have affected the country. In response to whether the two-state solution was still possible, 65 percent believed that Israel's construction of and support for internationally unrecognized settlements on Palestinian territory derailed any hopes for peace.

Palestine is recognized as an independent state by 137 nations, or over 70 percent of the world's countries, but influence from the U.S., Israel and other Western nations prevent it from becoming a U.N. member state. Tel Aviv argues that a solution can only be reached by direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine with the U.S. as a designated mediator. Since Israel's foundation in 1948, however, decades of occupation, war and political fallouts with Palestine and its allied Arab neighbors have stunted any meaningful progress of peace talks.

Survey responses also showed that the majority of Palestinians doubted Israel's commitment to attaining peace and some 73 percent felt that Israel would hurt them or demolish their home. Over half believed that Israel sought to annex territory occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and expel the Arab population, much like it did the Golan Heights of Syria.

Data showed that Palestinians blamed partially blamed their own leadership for the poor state of affairs in Palestine, in which massive debt and political divisions have been another major obstacle toward realizing statehood. A majority of 64 percent want Abbas out of office. A recent conference held by ruling party Fatah was intended to unite the party's leadership in the wake of Abbas' re-election, but may have caused further dispute by closing its doors to a rival party faction led by Mohammed Dahlan.