Only 17% of Israelis and 21% of Palestinians surveyed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem believe Israel and an independent Palestinian state can coexist peacefully, according to a Pew Research Center report published Tuesday.
A majority of Israelis, 56%, said such coexistence was not possible, while 68% of respondents in the West Bank and east Jerusalem gave the same answer. The survey did not include Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Pew said security conditions prevented it from conducting fieldwork.
The findings mark the first time since Pew began asking Israelis the question in 2013 that more than half have explicitly said peaceful coexistence between Israel and a Palestinian state is impossible. The share saying coexistence is possible was statistically unchanged from 2025, when Pew recorded its lowest level of Israeli optimism on the question.
Pew went beyond asking respondents whether they believed two states could coexist. Researchers also asked Israelis and Palestinians to explain their answers in their own words, revealing areas of both overlap and divergence in how the two populations viewed the conflict.
Among those who rejected the possibility of peaceful coexistence, respondents on both sides frequently pointed to disputes over the land, decades of violence, and deep distrust. Some Israelis and Palestinians described the two populations as competing over territory that they believed could not, or should not, be divided. Others cited religious or cultural divisions and said the history of violence had made trust difficult to rebuild.
The two groups differed, however, on some of the central obstacles they identified.
What are the biggest obstacles to peace between Israelis and Palestinians?
Israeli respondents who opposed a two-state solution frequently raised security concerns, including fears that an independent Palestinian state could become hostile to Israel, obtain weapons, or leave Israel with less territory from which to defend itself. Some said they believed Palestinian leaders or the Palestinian public ultimately sought Israel’s destruction rather than coexistence.
Palestinian respondents in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, meanwhile, commonly cited Israeli control over the territory, settlements, checkpoints and restrictions on movement as reasons they did not believe peace was achievable. Some described Israeli settlement expansion as having made the creation of a viable Palestinian state increasingly difficult.
The findings come as other recent surveys have painted a complicated picture of Palestinian attitudes. An INSS poll published earlier in September found that 46% of West Bank Palestinians surveyed said Israel did not have a right to exist, while 52% said they preferred negotiations as a way of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Separately, another Palestinian survey found that support for peaceful negotiations had risen while support for armed resistance declined. A Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll published in August similarly found support for a two-state formula rose when respondents were presented with a state based on the 1967 lines.
Small minorities still see a path to peace
Among Israelis and Palestinians who told Pew that peaceful coexistence was possible, some of the explanations were similar across the two populations.
Respondents spoke about a desire for peace, the need to avoid further bloodshed, and the belief that neither population would disappear, leaving coexistence as the eventual outcome of the conflict. Some also said clearly defined borders and political separation could provide a workable alternative to continued conflict.
Palestinian respondents who remained optimistic were more likely to emphasize the potential economic benefits of peace and the existing economic ties between Israelis and Palestinians. Some Israelis, by contrast, emphasized conditions that would have to be met before peace could succeed, including rebuilding trust, making political concessions and creating stronger political leadership.
Others on both sides said peaceful coexistence would depend on changes in education, attitudes and political leadership, while some respondents called for international involvement or security guarantees.
The Israeli figures also revealed differences within the country. Among Jewish Israelis, 16% said peaceful coexistence was possible, and 64% said it was not. Among Arab Israelis, 23% said it was possible, and 26% said it was not, but nearly half, 46%, declined to give a substantive answer.
Overall, one-fifth of Israeli respondents did not answer the coexistence question, twice the share that declined to answer in Pew’s 2025 survey.
Pew surveyed 1,001 adults in Israel from April 5 to May 6 and 1,038 Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem from March 30 to April 28. The interviews were conducted face-to-face in Hebrew and Arabic during the Iran war, with fieldwork spanning both the fighting and the period following the initial ceasefire declared on April 7.
