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What Do Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank Really Think About Israel and Hamas?
Former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Professor Khalil Shakaki’s public opinion polls made headlines last month. After revealing Hamas documents, the IDF claimed that the Palestinian terrorist organization falsified the results of the polls conducted by Shakaki in the Gaza Strip, in order to create a false representation of the Gazan public’s support for Hamas after the October 7 massacre.
Shikaki, who is considered the leading pollster of Palestinian society, heads the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) located in Ramallah, and has been conducting public opinion polls since September 1993 with the beginning of the Oslo process.
The IDF found documents stating that Hamas falsified the data regarding the Gaza Strip in a survey conducted by Shikaki in March 2024.
For example, in one of the questions in the survey, Gazans were asked whether the “decision to attack Israel on October 7 was correct.” While the results of the survey published by Shikaki showed that 71% believed that the decision was correct, Hamas documents claim that only 31% believed so.
Another question was who Palestinians would vote for in a presidential election. While the results of the survey published by Shikaki showed that Hamas candidate Ismail Haniyeh would receive 48% compared to 22% for Fatah candidate Abu Mazen, and 23% responded that they would not participate in the elections, the IDF says that Hamas documents claim that the “true results” were 21% for Haniyeh, 26% for Abu Mazen, and 52% who would not participate in the elections.
Another question examined was the preferred way to achieve the Palestinian national goals. While the results of the survey in the Gaza Strip published by Shikaki showed that the armed struggle receives 39%, peaceful popular resistance 27%, and negotiations 23%, Hamas documents claim that the “true results” were 28% for armed struggle, 21% for peaceful popular resistance, and 50% for negotiations.
Ultimately, it’s very difficult to know if the polling data in the Gaza Strip was indeed falsified as part of a Hamas influence operation to strengthen its position among Palestinian society and global public opinion.
Although Shikaki himself claims that it is unlikely that the polls were falsified, it is important to consider two things when examining the claims of forgeries.
First, the polls show that the support figures for the October 7 attack, for Hamas, and for the armed struggle among the Palestinians in the West Bank — where it is not claimed that Hamas falsified the polls — are the same and even higher than those in the Gaza Strip.
For example, a survey from March 2024 showed that 71% of Palestinians in the West Bank believe that the decision to launch the attack on October 7 was correct, while in the June 2024 poll, the figure rises to 73%. In the Gaza Strip, the “false” figure was 71% in the March 2024 survey (compared to 31% according to Hamas documents), a figure that even dropped to 57% in the June 2024 poll.
Regarding the question of the presidential elections, according to the June 2024 poll, Ismail Haniyeh receives 38% compared to 21% for Abu Mazen in the Gaza Strip, while in the West Bank the gap is larger in favor of Haniyeh, who received 46% compared to only 5% for Abu Mazen. Also, on the question of what is the preferred way to realize the Palestinian national goals, the March 2024 poll shows that while in the Gaza Strip, according to the “false” data, the armed struggle receives 39% (while according to Hamas data it is 28%), in the West Bank the figure rises to 51%.
Thus, the question arises, is Hamas also successful in falsifying the polls in the West Bank, or is it really a matter of broad popular support for Hamas? Another explanation is that after months of war with Israel because of Hamas’ massacre on October 7, the population in Gaza (which, unlike in the West Bank, has felt the results of the war) does feel differently.
Reality shows us that in the eyes of the Palestinians, Hamas is the only organization that has succeeded in posing a security challenge to Israel and hitting its soft underbelly, while the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have failed in their mission.
Second, how can the roars of joy and jubilation in the Gaza Strip in particular and the Palestinian public in general be explained in light of the barbaric terrorist attack of October 7, when many Palestinians felt that the State of Israel was about to disappear? Doesn’t Hamas want us to know that Palestinian society is a peace-loving society whose entire goal is coexistence with the State of Israel and its citizens, and it is absolutely not a barbaric society that sanctifies the murder of Jews for the past hundred years?
Unfortunately, it seems that the reality of the last hundred years is the winning proof of the question of how the Palestinians think.
Dr. Ori Wertman is a lecturer and research fellow at the University of South Wales, UK, and a research fellow at The Israel Centre for Grand Strategy- ICGS. His recent book is Israel: National Security and Securitization (Springer, 2023).
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a news conference at the Arab Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”
His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway… It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,” the Saudi minister said.
On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Bin Farhan’s visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory.
An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a “provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.
An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them.
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