Related Quarterly Updates

1.  Do you support the proposed Palestinian-Israeli agreement concerning elections, redeployment, and transfer of authority in the West Bank? 

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Yes 55.9% 59.0% 50.3%
2) No 29.0% 27.7% 31.3%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 15.1% 13.3% 18.4%

2. How do you evaluate the Palestinian leadership's management of the current negotiations regarding redeployment, elections, and transfer of authority?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Good 31.2% 30.6% 32.3%
2) Fair 32.0% 29.9% 35.9%
3) Weak 25.5% 27.2% 22.3%
4) Don’t know/Not applicable 11.3% 12.3% 9.5%

3. Do you trust Israel's intentions toward the peace process with the Palestinians?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Yes 6.9% 6.1% 8.2%
2) No 81.1% 83.4% 76.9%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 12.0% 10.5% 14.9%

4.  If elections were held today, and you decided to participate, you would vote for candidates affiliated with: 

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) PPP 1.0% 0.7% 1.6%
2) Hamas 13.1% 13.8% 11.9%
3) Fatah 43.6% 43.6% 43.7%
4) Islamic Jihad 2.8% 3.6% 3.1%
5) DFLP 0.1% - 0.3%
6) PFLP 4.3% 4.8% 3.4%
7) Fida 0.8% 1.3% -
8) Islamic independents 2.5% 3.1% 1.3%
9) Nationalist independents 4.8% 5.8% 2.8%
10) Other (specify) 8.1% 7.2% 9.6%
11) None of the above 18.6% 16.9% 21.8%

 

 

The following data come from a poll conducted by An-Najah National University’s Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies (OPSSC) on 13–15 October 2016. The results are based on a survey of 1,362 men and women from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The complete poll, the 53d in a series, can be found at www.najah.edu.

 

 

1. Do you support or reject the [PA’s] decision to postpone municipality and local council elections after the ruling of the Palestinian Supreme Court to conduct them only in the West Bank?

  West Bank Gaza Strip Total
1) I support 37.5% 31.8% 35.4%
2) I reject 54.6% 62.6% 57.6%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 7.9% 5.6% 7.0%

2.  Do you believe that the current circumstances are suitable for conducting municipality and local council elections?

  West Bank Gaza Strip Total
1) Yes 56.3% 53.0% 55.1%
2) No 39.3% 39.6% 39.4%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 4.4% 7.4% 55.5%

3. In your opinion, who is responsible for postponing the municipality and local council elections?

  West Bank Gaza Strip Total
1) The PA 37.9% 8.4% 27.1%
2) Fatah 8.6% 11.6% 9.7%%
3) Hamas 5.7% 31.6% 15.2%
4) Both Hamas and Fatah 25.3% 31.6% 27.6%
5) Some other Palestinian factions 5.5% 2.2% 4.3%
6) Some independent personalities 3.9% 1.0% 2.9%
7) Don’t know/Not applicable 13.1% 13.6% 13.3%

4. Do you expect municipality and local council elections to be conducted in the near future?

  West Bank Gaza Strip Total
1) Yes 57.8% 44.2% 52.8%
2) No 36.9% 46.8% 40.5%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 5.3% 9.0% 6.7%

5. Do you support or reject the French Initiative which calls for holding an international conference for peace in the Middle East?

  West Bank Gaza Strip Total
1) I support 53.8% 59.6% 55.9%
2) I reject 35.5% 25.0% 31.6%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 10.7% 15.4% 12.4%

6. Do you think that the French Initiative to foster the possibilities of peace between Palestinians and Israelis will succeed or fail?

  West Bank Gaza Strip Total
1) It will succeed 17.4% 22.6% 19.3%
2) It will fail 68.8% 53.2% 63.1%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 13.8% 24.2% 17.6%

The following data come from a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) on 8–10 December 2016. The results are based on a survey of 1,270 men and women from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The complete poll, the 62d in a series, can be found at www.pcpsr.org.

 

1. If new presidential elections were to take place today, and [PA pres.] Abbas was nominated by Fatah and Ismail Haniyeh was nominated by Hamas, whom would you vote for?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Mahmoud Abbas 45.0%  45.2% 44.8%
2) Ismail Haniyeh 48.6%  46.8% 51.0%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 6.4% 8.0% 4.2%

2. And what if the competition were between Marwan Barghouti, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mahmoud Abbas, for whom would you vote?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Marwan Barghouti 39.2% 44.1% 32.0%
2) Ismail Haniyeh 33.2% 29.1% 39.2%
3) Mahmoud Abbas 24.3% 22.4% 27.1%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 3.4% 4.5% 1.7%

 3. Fatah has held its Seventh [General Congress] and elected a new leadership. Do you have faith in the ability of the new leadership to achieve the goals entrusted to it?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Yes 32.9% 33.4% 32.1%
2) No 53.8% 51.1% 58.3%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 13.3% 15.5% 9.6%

 4. What do you expect the new U.S. pres., Donald Trump and his admin., to do about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Do nothing 30.4% 32.0% 27.6%
2) Renew peace negotiations 10.1% 5.6% 17.6%
3) Impose a solution on both sides 7.6% 4.1% 13.4%
4) Stand with the Israeli side against the other 47.1% 53.5% 36.5%
5) Don’t know/ Not applicable 4.8% 4.8% 4.9%

 5. And what do you want Pres. Trump to do? Do you want him to play a stronger role, or do you want the U.S. not to interfere in the peace process?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) I want a stronger Trump role in the peace process 29.6% 28.2% 32.0%
2) I want Trump to play the role the U.S. currently plays in the peace process 9.7% 7.1% 14.0%
3) I want Trump not to interfere in the peace process 53.4% 59.0% 44.1%
4) Don’t know/ Not applicable 7.3% 5.7% 9.9%

 

The following data comes from a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) on 8–11 March 2017. The results are based on a survey of 1,270 men and women from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The complete poll, the 63d in a series, can be found at www.pcpsr.org.

 

 

1.  Do you see benefit or harm to reconciliation in the holding of these [municipal] elections in 5/2017?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Benefit 34.7% 31.2% 40.4%
2) Harm 22.2% 19.4% 26.8%
3) Neither benefit nor harm 34.4% 38.5% 27.6%
4) Don’t know/Not applicable 8.8% 10.9% 5.2%

2. Hamas announced its decision not to participate in these local elections. In your view, is Hamas justified or unjustified in boycotting these elections?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Justified 31.4% 27.7% 37.5%
2) Unjustified 48.7% 48.2% 49.5%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 20.0% 24.2% 13.0%

 

3. More than 2 months since his inauguration, what is your expectation of the Trump admin.’s impact on future Palestinian-Israeli relations?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Will push toward return to the peace process 8.6% 6.3% 12.4%
2) Things will remain as they were under Obama 33.3% 38.3% 25.0%
3) Will lead to greater Palestinian diplomatic and political confrontations against Israel 10.6% 6.7% 17.2%
4) Will lead to greater Palestinian popular and perhaps armed confrontations due to settlement expansion 37.7% 37.8% 37.4%
5) Other  2.1% 2.3% 1.9%
6) Don’t know/Not applicable 7.7% 8.7% 6.1%

 

4. If the Trump admin. called upon the Palestinians and Israelis to return to negotiations within a 2-state solution framework, but without any preconditions, should the Palestinian side accept the invitation and return to negotiations?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Yes 31.0% 30.8% 31.5%
2) No 57.5% 60.6% 52.4%
3) Not sure 7.2% 4.7% 11.4%
4) Don’t know/Not applicable 4.2% 3.9% 4.6%

 5. The Gaza Strip suffers from a permanent crisis of electricity shortages, to which various actors contribute. Who, in your view, is the actor most responsible for the continuation of this crisis?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) PA/Pres. Abbas 23.1% 18.3% 30.7%
2) [Israel’s] occupation 35.0% 43.9% 20.4%
3) Hamas govt./ Ismail Haniyeh 19.6% 13.4% 29.7%
4) Egypt 7.6% 10.7% 2.5%
5) Hamas govt./PA 2.7% 1.0% 5.5%
6) GEDCO 1.7% 0.0% 4.4%
7) Other 4.4% 4.1% 4.8%
8) Don’t know/Not applicable 6.0% 8.4% 2.0%

The following data come from a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) between 6/29–7/1/2017. The results are based on a survey of 1,200 Palestinians from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The complete poll, the 64th in a series, can be found at www.pcpsr.org. The text has been edited for clarity.

 

1.  The PA has stopped making payments to cover the costs of electricity that Israel supplies to the Gaza Strip and has threatened to take additional similar steps in order to coerce Hamas [into a reconciliation deal]. Do you support or oppose the PA stopping payments to cover electricity costs?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Support 10.4% 7.2% 16.7%
2) Oppose 84.2% 86.7% 79.5%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 5.3% 6.1% 3.8%

2. Do you think this step and similar other steps that might be taken by the PA against Hamas will succeed or fail in ending the split?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Will succed 13.3% 9.1% 21.6%
2) Will fail 78.0% 81.5% 71.2%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 8.6% 9.4% 7.2%

3. Media reports indicate that Hamas and [exiled Fatah leader] Dahlan, with Egyptian sponsorship, have agreed to form a joint admin. or govt. . . . [See “Intra-Palestinian Dynamics” above.] If these reports are accurate, do you expect the agreement to lead to the complete separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Yes 38.1% 34.6% 44.9%
2) No 50.4% 50.8% 49.8%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 11.4% 14.6% 5.4%

  4. Are you for or against such an agreement?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) For 39.7% 28.5% 61.4%
2) Against 48.3% 56.6% 32.2%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 12.0% 14.9% 6.4%

5. Last month, Hamas released a new document expressing its principles and political positions [see JPS 46 (4)]. The document is seen by some as a replacement for the Hamas Charter first released nearly 30 years ago after the eruption of the First Intifada. If you have heard about the new document, tell us what you think of it: Does it maintain the basic and historic positions and principles of Hamas, or does it differ from them?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Did not hear about it 52.7% 63.6% 31.5%
2) Maintains the former basic positions and principles    19.5% 11.8% 34.4%
3) Differs from former basic positions and principles 20.5% 16.1% 29.1%
4) Don’t know/not applicable    7.3% 8.5% 4.9%

  

 

 

The following data come from a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) between 9/14–16/2017. The results are based on a survey of 1,270 Palestinians from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The complete poll, the 65th in a series, can be found at www.pcpsr.org.

 

1. When thinking about the confrontations that erupted after the Israeli installation of metal detectors or electronic gates at the entrance of [Haram al-Sharif] in Jerusalem, do you see or do not see in such confrontations an effective means of resisting occupation on other issues and areas [of contention] in the occupied Palestinian territories?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Effective 63% 65% 58%
2) Ineffective 34% 32% 37%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 4% 3% 5%

2. Various parties played a role in insuring the success of efforts to remove the electronic gates or metal detectors. From among the following list of parties, which one played the greatest role?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Jordan’s King Abdullah 7% 7% 8%
2) [PA pres.] Abbas 6% 2% 12%
3) King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia 1% 0% 3%
4)  Jerusalem residents who took part in the confrontations 73% 84% 54%
5) Religious personalities representing Haram al-Sharif and the Islamic Waqf 9% 2% 22%
6) Others 1% 1% 0%
7) Don’t know/Not applicable 3% 3% 1%

3. In light of the confrontations around [Haram al-Sharif], [Abbas] announced the suspension of contacts with the Israelis, including the suspension of security coordination. Do you support or oppose this decision?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Support 73% 74% 71%
2) Oppose 23% 20% 27%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 4% 6% 2%

4. In your view, in light of the [Abbas] decision to suspend contacts and security coordination with the Israeli side, did the PA actually implement the decision and stop security coordination?

  Total West Bank Gaza Strip
1) Yes 22% 16% 31%
2) No 66% 68% 63%
3) Don’t know/Not applicable 12% 16% 6%
Quarterly Updates for (1 Jan 1970 — 1 Jan 1970)

The following data come from a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) on 8–10 December 2016. The results are based on a survey of 1,270 men and women from the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The complete poll, the 62d in a series, can be found at www.pcpsr.org.

 

1. If new presidential elections were to take place today, and [PA pres.] Abbas was nominated by Fatah and Ismail Haniyeh was nominated by Hamas, whom would you vote for?