Some 31 percent of adults in Britain, France and Germany believe the Gaza disengagement plan will help the Middle East peace process rather than hinder it, according to a survey released this week.

The CNN/TIME Magazine poll, published on Monday, showed that 15 percent of those questioned believe that the pullout will hinder the peace process.

Meanwhile a poll by London’s Jewish News weekly revealed that more than half of British Jews oppose Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza pullout decision.

The CNN survey, conducted between 4 and 10 August, also showed that 35 percent of respondents across the three countries viewed the policies of Ariel Sharon as having neither made the conflict in the Middle East worse nor helped bring peace.

The inconclusive nature of the findings reflect the complexity of the situation. Poll Spokeperson

In addition, 20 percent were convinced that Sharon had made the conflict worse and just 16 percent believed that he had helped bring peace to the region.

Respondents in Britain (33 percent) and Germany (32 percent) were marginally more in favour of the disengagement plan than those in France (29 percent).

At the same time, Brits were more evenly split in their responses, with 20 percent thinking the plan would hinder the peace process, and 27 percent who thought it would neither hinder nor help the process. People in Germany were most convinced that the plan would make no difference either way (37 percent).

Although 46 percent of the French people questioned said they did not have a view on the disengagement, of those who did, more than half said they felt that the disengagement plan would help the Middle East peace process.

When asked for their views on the effectiveness of Sharon’s policies on the Middle East peace process, respondents in Germany (44 percent) were least convinced that these policies had made any impact compared with 34 percent of Britons and just 21 percent of people in France.

In France, respondents were most evenly split in their answers with 18 percent saying Sharon’s policies have helped bring peace, compared with 21 percent who believe they have made the conflict worse and 21 percent who think that the policies have neither made it worse nor helped bring peace.

"The inconclusive nature of the findings reflect the complexity of the situation," said a poll spokesperson.

Brits oppose pullout

A poll conducted by the London’s Jewish News weekly showed that more than half of British Jews oppose the disengagement. The paper said that 54 percent of those questioned are opposed to Sharon’s plan while 39 percent support the move.

The newspaper interviewed 1,000 people both on the streets of the capital and through its sister website totallyjewish.com

The publication noted that public backing for the plan appears to be much higher in Israel where around 55 percent are supportive despite the ongoing protests in the country.