Poll: 66% of Palestinians want PA President Abbas to resign

PNA President Mahmoud Abbas (Issam Rimawi - Anadolu Agency)

Middle East Monitor  /  December 17, 2020

Two thirds of Palestinians want Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resign over his latest decision to resume security cooperation with Israel, a recent poll conducted in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip found.

Carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) between 8-11 December, the study found that 66 per cent of respondents wanted Abbas to resign, while 56 per cent believe there is little or no chance that the PA will reverse its decision and once again suspend security coordination with Israel.

It also found that 53 per cent believe that Israel came out as the winner following the PA decision to stop and then resume coordination. Only nine per cent think the PA was the winner.

Meanwhile, 60 per cent believe Palestinians have paid a heavier price for stopping civil and security coordination with Israel while only 12 per cent think Israel paid a heavier price. Resumption of security coordination, 61 per cent of respondents said, would increase Arab normalisation with the occupation state.

An overwhelming majority of 82 per cent said that Israel has not agreed to honour its signed commitments with the PA, while 87 per cent believe that Israel has not abandoned its annexation plan in the Jordan Valley and the West Bank.

Now that Joe Biden has won the US presidential elections, 58 per cent of the Palestinians expect improvements in Palestinian-American relations, while 36 per cent do not.