Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Public opinion leaders
believe Hamas-led gov't should negotiate directly with Israel
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
AMMAN — A majority of public opinion leaders in
the country believe a Hamas-led government should negotiate directly with
Israel, a poll revealed Tuesday.
In a survey conducted by the University of Jordan's Centre for Strategic Studies
(CSS) on what a Hamas-led government should do to solve the Palestinian issue;
57 per cent of public opinion leaders as well as 37 per cent of a national
sample of the general public said the Hamas government should engage directly in
negotiations with Israel.
Meanwhile, only 20 per cent of the opinion leaders sample and 18 per cent of the
national sample said the Palestinian government should focus on everyday issues
and leave negotiations to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
And 13 per cent of the general public said there should be no negotiations of
any kind with Israel.
The poll was carried out between March 9-13 over the two samples: The national
sample of 984 respondents and the public opinion leaders comprising 641
respondents.
It sought to ascertain public opinion on the reasons behind Hamas' victory in
the January elections and on future relations between the Jordanian government
and a Hamas-led government. It also attempted to determine if citizens expect
the Islamic group to recognise Israel's right to exist.
Hamas is the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories and was
established soon after the first Intifada in 1987.
The organisation, which swept the Palestinian parliamentary elections and
controls an absolute majority in the legislature opposes the Oslo peace process,
and its short-term aim is a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian
territories.
Asked whether Hamas will eventually recognise Israel, 68. 6 per cent of opinion
leaders sampled in the CSS poll said it would, while 46 per cent of the national
sample said it would not.
In attributing reasons for the Hamas victory, 38 per cent of opinion leaders
said the group won “because of Palestinian Authority's corruption and its
failure at governance.” Twenty-one per cent of the national sample attributed
Hamas' win to its competence and organisational abilities as well as its
dedication, credibility and popularity. Only 10 per cent said it was because of
“the corrupt PA.”
A negligible percentage of Jordanians (11.9 per cent of opinion leaders and 5
per cent of the national sample) believed the Hamas victory was related to the
failed peace process.
An overwhelming majority of citizens said Amman's ties with the Hamas-led
government would be good. A total of 73.4 per cent of the national sample and
84.4 per cent of opinion leaders said relations between the two governments
would be very good or good, while only 7.8 per cent of the national sample and
7.5 per cent of opinion leaders said it would be very bad or bad.
Earlier this week Hamas completed the formation of its government.
The Palestinian parliament will not be asked to approve the new Hamas government
until after Israel's March 28 elections.