A public opinion poll on the Israel-Hamas war conducted among 8,000 respondents from 16 Arab countries found 94% of those polled viewed the United States position negatively, and 92% believe that the Palestinian question concerns all Arabs, not just Palestinians.
In the context of the war, 79%, 78% and 75% of respondents viewed the positions of France, the UK and Germany respectively, negatively. Opinion was split over the positions of Iran, Turkey, Russia and China – 48%, 47%, 41% and 40% respectively, considered them positively, while 37%, 40%, 42% and 38% viewed them negatively.
The Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies announced the results of the survey last week. Its questions were selected to determine the opinions of citizens in the Arab region on important topics related to the Israeli war on Gaza.
Of those polled, 76% said their position towards the US following the war in Gaza had become more negative, indicating that the Arab public has lost confidence in the US. Furthermore, respondents showed a near consensus (81%) in their belief that the US government is not serious about working to establish a Palestinian state in the 1967 occupied territories.
About 77% of respondents named the US and Israel as the biggest threat to the security and stability of the region; while 51% saw the US as the most threatening, 26% considered Israel to the biggest threat. Eighty-two per cent respondents were of the opinion that US media coverage of the war was biased towards Israel; only 7% saw it as neutral.
Showing that the Arab public views the war as a local event, an overwhelming 97% of respondents said they experienced psychological stress (to varying degrees) as a result of the war; 84% suffered a great sense of psychological stress.
About 80% of respondents said they regularly follow news of the war, compared to 7% who do not, a further indication that Arabs see the war as a local event. To access news on the war, 54% of respondents relied on television, compared to 43% who relied on the Internet.
The results highlighted the fact that Arab public opinion does not believe the military operation carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 was in pursuit of a foreign agenda. Thirty-five per cent respondents considered the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as the most important reason for the operation, while 24% viewed it as defence against Israel targeting Al Aqsa Mosque and 8% saw it as a result of the ongoing siege of Gaza Strip.
While 67% of respondents said the military operation carried out by Hamas was a legitimate resistance operation, 19% viewed it as somewhat flawed but a legitimate resistance operation.
The majority of respondents rejected comparisons between Hamas and ISIS made mostly by Israeli and Western politicians and media.
