Introduction

These are the results and analyses of the latest Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) public opinion poll, focusing on elections reconciliation, the performance of the Fayyad and Haniyeh governments, the approval rates of leaders, the peace process, the Obama visit, the Arab Spring and support for existing political parties and prospective future candidates.

The questionnaire was fielded April 2-4, 2013. For this survey, 1,200 Palestinians were interviewed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. All socioeconomic groups were represented in the poll (for more details on the sample, please refer to: www.awrad.org ). The margin of error in this poll is plus or minus 3 percent. The survey was carried out by AWRAD researchers under the supervision of Dr. Nader Said-Foqahaa, President of AWRAD.

Highlights

• 52 percent of respondents say that Palestinian society is heading in the wrong direction.
• 31 percent of respondents continue to strongly believe that the November confrontation in Gaza and the resulting cease-fire agreement constitute a victory for Palestinians.
• 44 percent prefer the Fatah/Abbas approach to resolving the Palestinian issue, compared to 28 percent who prefer the Hamas approach.
• 85 percent of respondents support the immediate conduct of legislative and presidential elections.
• If elections were held today, 41 percent of respondents say they would vote for Fatah; Hamas follows with 17 percent.
• About one third are either undecided or will not vote.
• In a 12-man race for the presidency, Abbas receives 31 percent, Haniyeh 13 percent and Marwan Barghouthi 8 percent.
• In a two-way race, 46 percent will vote for Abbas and 23 percent will vote for Mashaal.
• Optimism about reconciliation declines from 69 percent in February to 58 percent.
• 39 percent perceive the performance of the Fayyad government as negative.
• 27 percent perceive the performance of the Haniyeh government as negative.
• If given a choice, 44 percent would not select the Fayyad government or the Haniyeh government.
• The approval rate of President Abbas stands at 55 percent; Haniyeh at 39 percent and Fayyad at 35 percent.
• 51 percent support an unconditional and immediate return to negotiations.
• 47 percent listened or heard about President Abbas’s conference with President Obama in Ramallah.
• At the present time, 44 percent of Gazans are less supportive of the changes in Egypt since its revolution.

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