By Allyn Fisher-Ilan

JERUSALEM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Copies of a symbolic Middle East peace proposal put forward by Israeli opposition politicians and leading Palestinians landed with a thud in hundreds of thousands of Israeli mailboxes on Monday.

The plan presents solutions to some of the thorniest obstacles to a two-state solution, but though the United States has called it helpful it lacks Israeli government backing and has not been fully embraced by the Palestinian leadership.

Left-wing promoters of the accord had hoped to energise what so far has been a muted public response by delivering copies of the 45-page document straight to Israelis' homes.

But the reactions of Israelis interviewed in Jerusalem suggest the document dubbed the "Geneva Agreement", as it is expected to be officially launched next month in Switzerland, was being received with a mix of scepticism and apathy.

Most Israelis doubted the unofficial, back-channel negotiations could curtail a three-year spiral of violence.

Miri Barnea did not even bother to read the copy that landed in her mailbox in Tel Aviv. "If it's not government-backed, then what use is it?", the cosmetician asked.

Ronda Israel, a U.S. immigrant from Highland Park, New Jersey, said she would tear hers up "and throw it away".

Gary Erlbaum of Philadelphia, visiting Israel for a convention of Jewish charities, said: "Even entering into these negotiations is an act of treason."

The peace deal was finalised last month by Labour Party left-winger Yossi Beilin, an architect of the 1993 Oslo accords, and former Palestinian cabinet minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The accord, worked out in two years of talks, has surfaced at a time when a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace has stalled amid persistent violence.

The proposal shows "Palestinians and Israelis do want peace", despite the official stalemate, Abed Rabbo told Reuters.

It calls for Israel and a future Palestinian state to share Jerusalem as their respective capitals and would also allow a limited number of Palestinians to return to their former homes in what is now Israel -- something most Israelis oppose.

The proposal would also let some Jewish settlers keep their homes on occupied land, anathema to a majority of Palestinians.

When news of the deal surfaced in October, the Israeli government immediately rejected it.

An opinion poll conducted by Tel Aviv University at the end of October, showed only 25 percent of Israelis supported the deal, while 54 percent were opposed. The remainder had no view.