The latest quarterly Palestinian poll came out on September 13, 2023, which repeated commonly heard Palestinian attitudes about their disgust with their leadership and wanting to kill Jews. A deeper look at the trends related to an open-ended question reveals a disturbing reality.

When asked about the most important issue for Palestinians to address, the goal of “ending the occupation and establishing a new Palestinian state” was always the number one choice. The second most important issue has consistently been getting the “right of return” to move into towns in Israel.

A look at the trendline since 2011 shows a significant erosion of those seeking to form a new Palestinian State. In September 2011, 59% of Palestinian Arabs said that ending Israeli rule in the “West Bank” and Gaza was the top priority with only 24% considering a right of return to Israel as the main goal. That 35% gap shrunk by nearly half to 18% by September 2015 and by nearly half again in September 2018 when there was a 10% difference. Now the gap stands at a mere 7%.

The decline is virtually completely from a drop in enthusiasm for a new Palestinian State. The desire for a “right to return” to Israel has stayed virtually constant.

Not surprisingly based on the above, the opposition to a two state solution now stands at 67%.Opposition reached these elevated levels in early 2021, after a more modest opposition of 26% of Gazans and 40% of West Bank Arabs in December 2020.

It should not come as a surprise that Palestinians have come to oppose this Palestinian State. They view the leadership as terribly corrupt, with 78% wanting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to reign. The man has refused to hold elections and will soon start the 19th year of his four year-term.

This latest poll also asked about the Oslo Accords, now reaching its 30th anniversary. Today, 68% of Palestinian think Oslo harmed Palestinian interests and 71% think it was a mistake to sign them. A majority of 63% wants the PA to now abandon the accords completely.

These various responses reflect a new reality: Palestinians are done pursuing a peace agreement with Israel in search of a new corrupt Palestinian State. They have begun to prioritize the goal of moving to Israel, and taking over the Jewish State. It’s why Palestinian leaders are no longer shy condemning the ‘Judaization’ of Israel itself, and not just Jerusalem. They have called the entirety of the Jewish State a “painful settlement” in what they perceive of as purely “Arab land.”

The spike in Palestinian Arab violence since the beginning of 2021 is no longer about “resisting the occupation” and establishing an Arab State in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians are launching a war for Israel itself, as it considers the Nakba a living reality and not a moment in history in 1948. They have convinced themselves that Israel will soon cease to exist, and have set their sites on the bigger prize – from the river to the sea.