JERUSALEM, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Almost half of the Jewish-Israelis (47 percent) think that the Palestinians deserve an independent state, according to the monthly Peace Index of the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University published Tuesday.

Among Arab-Israelis, 73 percent support such an agreement.

On the other hand, 56 percent of Jewish and Arab Israelis believe, according to the survey, that if a peace agreement is to be signed based on the two-state solution, it would be impossible to implement.

Analysis of the Jewish sample by age shows that support for a Palestinian state increases with age: among those aged 18-34 only a minority (35 percent) support the Palestinians' right to a state, 54 percent of those aged 35-54 support it, and in the oldest age group a 61 percent majority support it.

Arab-Israelis believe unanimously (94 percent) that Palestinians are entitled in principle to an independent state of their own.

In addition, 83 percent of Jewish-Israelis think that "the Palestinians must recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people before peace talks with them can be revived," while 72 percent of Arab-Israelis oppose this demand.

According to the data, 66 percent of Jewish-Israelis agree that "most of the Palestinians have not come to terms with Israel's existence and would destroy it if they could."

As the Jewish New Year approaches next week, 64 percent of Jewish-Israelis think that it was a good year for their state, and 85 percent look forward to spending holiday meals with their family.

In the coming year, the Jewish-Israelis want the government to focus on closing socioeconomic gaps (22 percent), improving the economic situation (18 percent) and reducing corruption (16 percent).

Among Arab-Israelis, in first place comes the goal of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians (22 percent) and just beneath it is improving the economic situation (19 percent).