http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/853564.html
Last update - 19:28 29/04/2007 Poll: 75% of Israeli Arabs support Jewish, democratic constitution By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent A vast majority of Israeli Arabs would support a constitution that maintained Israel's status as a Jewish and democratic state while guaranteeing equal rights for minorities, according to a poll whose results were published on Sunday. Among the 507 people who participated in the poll, some 75 percent said they would agree with such a definition while 23 percent said they would oppose it. The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), a non-partisan research institute who commissioned the poll, said the results were proof that a constitution that maintained Israel's status as a Jewish and democratic state could win the support of the Israeli Arab public. Over the past year a number of Israeli Arab organizations, such as Adalah and the Mossawa Center, have published plans calling for a new "multi-cultural" constitution. The poll's finding also revealed support for such a constitution among Israeli Arabs has eroded in recent years. In 2004, some 55 percent of those in favor of such a constitution said they felt strongly about their position while in 2007 only 34 percent said they did. Israeli Arab support for a constitution in general stands at 88 percent, with 72 percent saying they feel equality should be prominently featured in the text. IDI Managing-Director Amir Abramovich said the results prove that an agreement on a constitution, based on the principle of a Jewish and democratic Israel, is possible. "We have been in dialogue with the Arab public for years in order to reach an agreement," he said.
