VOA常速英语2008年-New Poll Finds Majority of Israelis Support Tal

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
27 February 2008

A new poll in Israel says a majority of Israelis would support holding talks with Hamas Islamic militants¹ who control the Gaza Strip. VOA's Jim Teeple reports an Israeli civilian² was killed by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, and Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed at least eight Hamas militants.

According to the poll that was commissioned by the left-of-center Haaretz newspaper, 64 percent of Israelis say their government should hold talks with Hamas militants - to end the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip and obtain the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas.

Camille Fuchs, who heads the Department of Statistics at Tel Aviv University, supervised the poll of 500 Israelis. He says the data indicates people want to find a solution to the problem of Gaza.

"The feeling is the people would like to see some kind of movement, some kind of solution. It does not mean that Hamas is less of a terrorist organization than they thought before," Fuchs said. "The rockets falling indiscriminately in Sderot do not make them think good things about Hamas but probably people want a solution."

According to the poll, 55 percent of voters who identify with the center-right Kadima Party, and 72 percent of Labor³ Party voters, would support holding talks with Hamas if that led to an end to violence emanating⁴ from Gaza. Forty-eight percent of voters who support the right-wing Likud Party would also support such talks.

Camille Fuchs says a broad majority of Israelis have also come to believe that peace with the Palestinians will only come about if Israel disengages from settlements it has built in the occupied West Bank

"The public opinion is today in to a direction that it is for a solution," Fuchs said. "That is clear to people even in the right wing who are talking about a two-state solution. They know more or less what kind of solution we are talking about. It is quite clear to the great majority of the population that the great majority of the settlements are going to be given up and now it is taking just too long to get that solution."

In a stark⁵ reminder⁶ of just how vulnerable Israelis living in southern Israel feel, an Israeli man was killed at a college near the town of Sderot by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, another Israeli man was wounded in the attack. Hamas militants claimed to have fired more than 20 rockets at southern Israel, including eight at Sderot.

The death is likely to increase pressure on the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to carry out a large-scale military operation against militants in Gaza.

Earlier in the day five Hamas militants were killed as they drove in a van near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Three other militants were killed by Israeli forces in the northern and central Gaza Strip.

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句

5 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

6 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。