Jordanians reject ties with Israel, welcome normalization with Iran, Syria: Poll

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

A majority of Jordanians also oppose US or Israeli attacks against Iran

An overwhelming majority of Jordanians say they oppose “all sorts of cooperation” with Israel, including receiving humanitarian aid in the case of a natural disaster, according to a public opinion poll commissioned by the Washington Institute and conducted between March and April.

While 84 percent of respondents say they oppose “having business deals with Israeli companies,” 76 percent agreed with the following statement: “In case of an earthquake or other natural disaster … Arab countries should refuse any humanitarian aid from Israel.”

Furthermore, at least 60 percent of Jordanians have a favorable view of Palestinian resistance factions firing missiles at Israel. In comparison, only 12 percent expressed a positive opinion of the Abraham Accords.

While a sizable minority of Jordanians (42 percent) see Iran as an “enemy,” over half of the respondents (53 percent) positively welcomed the Iran-Saudi rapprochement, while 58 percent say Arab normalization with Syria is a positive development for the region.

Jordanians also vehemently oppose US or Israeli attacks against Iran, with 65 percent of respondents agreeing that such a move “would be too dangerous and a bad idea.”

In addition, only 13 percent believe Washington should do “more to help counter the threats we face from Iran,” while 59 percent oppose the idea of an Arab country developing a nuclear weapon “to counter Iran.”

While Jordan was among the first nations to normalize relations with neighboring Israel, a large majority of the country’s population has historically stood against the occupation of Palestine and in support of a free Palestinian state.

This is a reality widely shared across West Asia, as earlier this year the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) released the findings of the largest opinion survey conducted in the Arab world, showing that 84 percent of Arabs reject recognizing Israel for political and cultural reasons.

A similar poll conducted in September revealed that the Arab youth also prefer building ties with Russia and China over the US.

US analytics and advisory firm Gallup in April of this year released a poll that shows an overwhelming majority of citizens in 13 countries across West Asia and North Africa do not trust US claims about “encouraging the development of democracy” or about “improving the economic lot of people.”