The Palestinians distrust their leadership and are generally opposed to a two-state solution with Israel, a recent poll reveals. A majority favor a new terror war, known as ‘intifada’, against Israel.
Palestinians do not believe Abbas will resign. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)
The latest poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) indicates a crisis of faith in the Palestinian leadership. Nearly two-thirds of Palestinians surveyed believe that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas should resign, but he has no clear successor. Just over half oppose a two-state solution, but support for a one-state solution stands at less than one-third. A majority are in favor of armed intifada.
The poll shows that 65 percent of Palestinians want Abbas to resign. The same percentage, however, believes that his intention to resign from the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee is an act. Thirty-two percent would prefer that he be replaced by terrorist Marwan Baghouti, and 19% would like to see Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh take his place. If an election were held now and the only candidates were Abbas and Haniyeh, Haniyeh would just barely win at 49% to Abbas’s 44%.
A majority of Palestinians favor a return to violence. (AP)
Palestinian support for the two-state solution has also dropped. Sixty-six percent said they oppose an unconditional return to negotiations with Israel, and 60% rejected a French proposal at the UN that would force a resolution to the conflict on both sides. Forty-eight percent said they favor a two-state solution, with 51% opposed. In the absence of negotiations, 57% are in support of an armed intifada, as compared to 49% three months ago.
PSR conducted the survey on September 17-19, and the results reflect the events of that time period, which include: President Mahmoud Abbas submitting his resignation to the PLO Executive Committee; a growing rift between Hamas and Fatah over rumors that Hamas was indirectly negotiating a truce in Israel; the eruption of riots on the Temple Mount on Rosh Hashana; and the deaths of three members of the Dawabshe family from Duma.
The pollsters interviewed 1,270 adults in face-to-face interviews at 127 randomly selected locations across the PA-administered territories.
By: Sara Abramowicz, United with Israel
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