Syrians back peace deal with Israel, resent Hezbollah’s presence – poll

New poll shows vast majority of Syrians have a dim view of the Hezbollah terrorist organization while most back a peace deal with Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

A plurality of Syrians back normalizing relations with Israel, ending the state of war that has persisted since 1948, a new poll shows, while the vast majority of the country expressed resentment toward the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah’s presence in their country.

On Tuesday, the Council for a Secure America released the results from polls conducted in Lebanon and Syria in January by the YouGov polling institute.

The poll found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of Syrians support Damascus signing a new security deal with Israel, up from 60% in a similar poll conducted in October.

Just 8% of respondents opposed reaching a new security arrangement with Israel, down from 9% in the previous poll.

Nearly half (47%) said they also support normalization with Israel after “a long-term resolution to the issue of Palestine.” The poll did not specify the nature of the “resolution” and did not explicitly mention Palestinian statehood.

Only 13% of respondents said they were opposed to normalizing ties with Israel, with 24% saying they neither support nor oppose normalization and 16% who declined to answer.

A majority of men back normalization with Israel, with 60% saying they favor a peace deal, compared with just 16% who said they were opposed, while only 34% of Syrian women also support normalization.

More than two-thirds (70%) of respondents said they view Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria negatively, with just 5% responding that they had a positive view of the Shi’ite terror group.

Lebanese respondents were far less likely to support normalizing ties with Israel, with just 27% backing a peace deal, compared with 31% who said they were opposed.

In October, 30% said they supported normalization, while 28% were opposed.

A wide majority (63%) of Lebanese respondents said they approved of Beirut’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, while just 9% opposed it.

Just over half (52%) said Hezbollah’s military presence in Lebanon had a negative impact on the country’s security, while 10% said it had a positive impact.

According to Council for a Secure America Executive Director Jennifer Sutton, the polls show that “Syrian and Lebanese public opinion continues to gravitate away from Hezbollah.”

“While Israeli normalization is not yet on the horizon, we are seeing significant shifts in Syria, with a majority believing that eventual peace with Israel is possible.”