The vast majority of Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs, 90 percent, do not trust the US Administration, and 80 believe they have been abandoned by Arab countries, a new poll shows.
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) conducted a poll among PA Arabs after the US-sponsored Peace to Prosperity economic workshop was held in Manama, Bahrain. The survey showed that three quarters want the PA to reject President Donald Trump’s Deal of the Century peace plan for the Middle East or any other US efforts towards peace.
An overwhelming majority of the PA, 79 percent, supports the PA’s decision to boycott the Bahrain workshop, while only 15 percent opposed the move.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and other Arab countries participated in the workshop, and 80 percent say that the participation of Arab countries signifies “an Arab abandonment of the Palestinians.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the diplomatic shift in the Arab world in Israel and described it as “encouraging.”
Speaking on Tuesday night at the Jerusalem International Convention Center during an event to mark the American Independence Day, Netanyahu thanked the government of Bahrain for hosting the workshop.
Netanyahu related to a statement by Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Al Khalifa who said in his first interview with the Israeli media last week that “Israel is a country of the Middle East. Israel is part of the heritage of this whole region. The Jewish People have a place amongst us. The Israeli public needs to trust that there are countries in the region that do want to have peace and do encourage the Palestinians to do it.”
“That’s a change that should be applauded,” Netanyahu declared. “It was encouraging to see numerous Arab governments participate in the workshop, despite Palestinian efforts to undermine it.”
As for the future, 68 percent of the respondents said that the US will not succeed in implementing its diplomatic plans. Similarly, the overwhelming majority of the public, 76 percent, said that it does not expect the US economic plan to lead to prosperity in the PA, but 17 percent do expect such an outcome.
Almost three quarters believe that in response to the PA’s rejection of the Trump peace plan, the US will impose sanctions on the Palestinians, and 18 percent say that the US will amend its plan following the PA’s rejection.
Despite fears of the PA’s financial collapse, the majority supports the PA’s decision not to accept partial custom revenues collected by Israel. A majority of 62 percent supported and 29 percent opposed the PA’s decision.
However, a majority of 52 percent says that it is worried that this decision could lead to the collapse of the PA while 39 percent think it will not.
The poll included 1,200 adults who were interviewed face to face in 120 randomly selected locations. The margin of error is +/-3 percent.
(TPS)
