Poll shows growing support for resumed Palestinian-Israeli negotiations
as Palestinian presidential election nears

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2004

As the election date nears for the next Palestinian president, support among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza for negotiations with Israel reached 69% -- a significant increase from 45% last July- according to an IRI-supported poll released December 15th by the Development Studies Programme at Birzeit University. The poll also indicates that Palestinians respondents believe that Fatah can achieve better results in negotiations (50.7%) than could Hamas (24.4%).

Those polled indicated renewed optimism for political negotiations with Israel, but also expressed high expectations for the performance of the new Palestinian leadership; 59% of respondents believe that peaceful political conflict will prevail among the factions and 54% believe there will be renewed interest in internal reform. Respondents believe that Fateh represents a more realistic and concrete program compared to Hamas, with 44.2 % indicating that Fateh is best suited to find solutions to social and economic problems compared with 25% for Hamas.

The January 9th, 2005 Presidential election leans heavily for Mahmoud Abbas, who was unanimously nominated by Fatah, the Palestinian Liberation Organization's largest faction following Arafat's death in November. Marwan Barghouthi, a popular young Fateh leader who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison, threatened division within Fateh with his candidacy but withdrew after significant pressure. Of the remaining six candidates, only Mustapha Barghouthi, an independent candidate affiliated with the Palestinian National Initiative, has significant support reaching more than 20%. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have both declared their intent to boycott the upcoming presidential election.

IRI and DSP will conduct an election-day poll in the West Bank and Gaza on January 9th that will include over 16,000 respondents in 150 different polling locations throughout the two areas. The poll results will help to corroborate the election results, lend additional credibility to the conduct of the election, and give vital information about the motivations and preferences of voters beyond their candidate selection.

Established in 1997, the Development Studies Programme is a policy and research center devoted to Palestinian development issues. DSP's activities are overseen by prominent Palestinian survey research expert Dr. Nader Said. Dr. Said holds a doctorate in sociology from Western Michigan University and contributed to the 2002 United Nations Arab Human Development Report. This most recent poll is the 20th in a series of public opinion surveys conducted by DSP and supported by IRI.

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Poll shows growing support for resumed Palestinian-Israeli negotiations as Palestinian presidential election nears

Poll shows growing support for resumed Palestinian-Israeli negotiations
as Palestinian presidential election nears