Do Palestinians want a federation?

The idea of an Israeli-Palestinian federation is a concept that is suggested every now and then, typically as a way to move beyond the status quo, but bypass some of the difficulties involved in fully negotiating a two-state outcome.

However, the concept is not popular amongst Palestinians. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research has asked Palestinians on a few occasions about the concept of federation and their support thereof. Palestinians do not want a federation with Israel, though they typically prefer this over a one-state outcome.

There are actually numerous forms of federation about which Palestinians have been asked: A federated Israel and Palestine, a federation of three states (Israel, Jordan and Palestine), a federated Jordan and Palestine, and a federation between Gaza (ruled by Hamas) and the West Bank (ruled by Fatah). None are popular.

This page is part of a long report on Palestinian public opinion. It examines Palestinian opinions from 2014 until today, on what Palestinians want to achieve vis-à-vis the Israeli–Palestinian dispute, how they want to achieve it, what they want their state to look like and their views on Hamas and the Hamas–Israel war that began in October 2023. To see the rest of the report, click here. [update]

Israel-Palestine federation

In December 2020 and June 2021, Palestinians were asked to choose between a number of different outcomes as to their preferred solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Because the answers to the question on federation were very similar over the two times that the question was asked, we have combined these into an average result in the graph below.

The confederation option was not popular, scoring below both the two-state outcome (47%) and the unspecified “others” (20%). Still, at 10%, it was more popular than the one-state outcome (8%).

Several years later, and in the context of the Hamas–Israel war that began in October 2023, Palestinians were again asked, in December 2023, about a federation, among other options. However, the possible answers included a violent option – continued fighting until Israel’s destruction. This was, by a considerable margin, the most popular choice.

In this survey, support for a federation was even less popular than the one-state concept.

Palestinians were asked in September 2024 and May 2025,

We can see here that, once the option for violence has been removed, support for a two-state outcome dramatically increases. In these two graphs, there is, once again, low support for a federation, though this support is (just) higher than support for a one-state outcome.

Although Palestinians have not been regularly asked whether they support an Israeli-Palestinian federation (and, on most occasions where they have, the questions and possible responses have been different), we can see a definitive pattern in their responses: it is not a popular choice.

Israel-Jordan-Palestine federation

In September 2018, Palestinians were asked,

Less than a third – 29% – said they were with the idea.

An immediate follow-up question asked the same thing, though more definitively:

This prospect was even less popular.

Jordan-Palestine federation

In the following survey, in December 2018, in a series of questions, Palestinians were asked whether they support negotiations to resolve the dispute, whether they support the concept of a two-state outcome, whether the Palestinian state would be demilitarised or not, and whether the Palestinian state should enter into a federation with Jordan. This last question read,

The difference of opinion in the West Bank was relatively sharp, with 34% supportive and 54% in opposition. Things were much closer in Gaza, with 49% – a small plurality – in support and 45% in opposition.

Gaza-West Bank federation

In 2007, Hamas ejected Palestinian Authority rule from Gaza. In June 2020, after many years of failed reconciliation talks, whereby Gaza and the West Bank would once again come under the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians were asked whether they would support the idea of a Gaza–West Bank federation.

There was almost no difference between Gazans and West Bank Palestinians, with 31% of each supporting the concept, 58% of West Bank Palestinians against it and 63% of Gazans against it. As always, we have not included responses for “I don’t know”.

Conclusion

The term federation or confederation can mean different things; however, none of these concepts are popular amongst Palestinians.