Popularity of Palestinian President drops against Hamas, poll finds

Ramallah - The popularity of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declined sharply and he would run neck-and-neck with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh if presidential elections were held now, a poll released Sunday has found. Abbas would receive 16.8 per cent of the vote, to 16 per cent for Haniyeh, the poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) found.

Haniyeh was also the politician respondents trusted the most, scoring 14.2 per cent to Abbas' 12.1 per cent.

In the previous JMCC poll in June, Abbas' rating stood at 17.8 per cent. In addition, a majority of respondents - 55.6 per cent - said they were "somewhat unsatisfied" or "very unsatisfied" with the way Abbas was performing as president, compared to 39.4 per cent who said they were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied."

According to the JMCC, anger at a decision by Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA) to agree to defer a UN Human Rights Council vote on a report criticizing Israel for its offensive in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year, is the reason for his drop in popularity.

Some 43.8 per cent said the PA was responsible for the deferring the vote, compared to 18.1 per cent who blamed the US and 17.2 per cent who blamed Israel.

Abbas backtracked on support for a deferral, and the Palestinians proposed a special session of the Human Rights Council, which on Friday endorsed the report.

The drop in Abbas' popularity did not translate to his Fatah party, which would receive 40 per cent of the vote in elections, compared to 18.7 per cent for Haniyeh's Hamas.

The poll was conducted between October 7 to 11, and interviewed 1200 person in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The margin of error was given as 3 per cent.