Most Palestinians reject Trump’s yet-to-be-revealed ‘deal of the century’

The vast majority of Palestinians support their leadership’s rejection of Trump’s “deal of the century,” expecting it will not offer them anything worthwhile, according to a new poll. 

By: World Israel News Staff

The majority of Palestinians support their leadership’s rejection of US-brokered peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a new poll shows.

A public opinion poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre, published on Tuesday, shows 60.6 percent of Palestinians support the Palestinian leadership’s position not to accept the US as the sole mediator in the peace process.

However, only 28.1 percent agree with the decision to refuse to deal with the US since its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December.

A majority, 80.3 percent, expect that the “Deal of the Century” promoted by the US administration will not produce anything acceptable to the Palestinians, as opposed to 6.8 percent who said the opposite.

The poll also shows that Palestinian society is divided over the idea of returning to peace negotiations, whereby 49.1 percent support the effort and 45.6 percent are opposed.

The monthly Peace Index of the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, published last month, found that 74 percent of Israelis believe President Donald Trump’s pending peace plan is doomed to fail.

Despite no breakthrough in negotiations with the Palestinians in sight, the poll shows that 61.5 percent of Israelis continue to support, strongly or moderately, negotiations with the Palestinians.

The position of the Palestinian Authority (PA) regarding Trump’s peace plan, ever since his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, has led to some improvement in the Palestinian leadership’s standing, the poll indicates.

The percentage of those who trust PA President Mahmoud Abbas rose to 11.1 percent, up from 10.6 percent in January of this year. Furthermore, there was a rise in the percentage of those who trust his Fatah party more than the other factions, from 22.3 percent to 25 percent over the same period.

Rise in Palestinian opposition to Oslo Accords

The 1994 Oslo Peace Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians are increasingly seen by the Palestinians as “harmful to the national interest.”

Twenty-five years after the signing of the Accords, the larger percentage of respondents, 46.5 percent, said they harmed Palestinian national interests – up from 33.6 percent in March 2013 – while 11.9 percent said they served Palestinian national interests; 34 percent said it made no difference.

The majority of those polled, 61.8 percent, said they opposed the Accords, while 24.3 percent said the opposite, up from 48.3 percent in March 2013.