Polls

3 May 2016: Palestinian Public Opinion: Evaluation of Institutions & Leaders
For more details, please see the following:

English Report             Arabic Report 

Arabic Tables

Highlights:

  • The PLC, the PA, the PLO, and Fatah (and its leading institutions) record the largest decline in trust among Palestinians (15 points or more) when compared to AWRAD polls since December 2011. All others, including Hamas, suffer from diminished trust but to a lesser extent.
  •  Marwan Bargoughti has the highest positive ratings amongst political leaders, followed by Mustafa Bargouthi, 25 points behind. Next are Ahmad Saadat and Ismael Haniyeh, followed by Rami Hamdallah, Khaled Mashal and President Mahmoud Abbas; the last three separated by 1.1 percentage points.
  •  More than 80 percent of respondents believe that there is corruption in government institutions in both the West Bank and Gaza.
  • For the majority of respondents, transparency, accountability, democracy, respect for human rights and freedom of press are suffering under both the West Bank and Gaza authorities.
  • Respondents have mixed evaluations of the performance of the Hamdallah government in improving economic opportunities, health and educational services, infrastructure and security.
  • Only 10 percent believe that the overall situation in the West Bank has improved during the past three years. A majority believes that the PA is responsible for the decline in living conditions in the West Bank.
  •  In Gaza, only 2 percent believe that the overall situation has improved during the past three years. A majority believes that Hamas is the party primarily responsible for the decline of living conditions in the Strip, and is the party in actual control of the Strip despite the appointment of the unity government. The primary causes for the decline in the quality of life in Gaza are believed to be the economic situation, electricity outages, the closure, and the indifference of the Egyptian authorities to local suffering.  
  • A plurality of respondents believes that measures to boost job opportunities for youth might contribute to a decline in the level of the current protests; yet, a majority believes that the Palestinian leadership has no strategies to address the issues faced by youth.
  • While facing decline, Fatah remains the most popular political party with respect to potential future elections, followed by Hamas. The largest group of Palestinians, however, is ambivalent or undecided at this time.
  • Marwan Bargouthi is the most electable leader, followed by Mahmoud Abbas and Ismael Haniyeh. If President Abbas were not to run, Marwan Bargouthi is the favorite followed by Ismael Haniyeh and Mohamad Dahlan.
  • Two thirds of Palestinians believe that things in Palestine are going in the wrong direction and half are pessimistic about the future. Correspondingly, a majority reports a downturn in their household economic situation
AWRAD experienced staff and experts conduct high-quality independent research, and produce innovative recommendations and policy solutions. AWRAD's motto is "Quality Research Matters".