Poll: 66% of Palestinians say gov't must honor agreements (Haaretz)
By Danny Rubinstein

In the first poll in the territories since Hamas' victory, 66 percent of respondents said the new government should honor the Palestinian Authority's commitment to negotiations with Israel.

Among Hamas voters, only 12 percent said they chose Hamas for its political agenda, while 43 percent said they were fed up with Fatah's corruption. The rest said they were hoping for a better life or voted for religious reasons.

The pollsters from the Jerusalem Media & Communication Center are aware that all Palestinian surveys had failed to predict Hamas' success. Their last poll was better than others, they said, since it predicted Fatah would win by just 2 percent. "The intelligence services of Israel and other countries were wrong, and their mistake was even greater than ours," staffers said.

A large majority, 74 percent, said they had not expected a Hamas landslide. The poll confirms that most Palestinians, 58 percent, still believe the conflict with Israel should be resolved on the basis of the two-state principle. A binational state received support from 22 percent, while 10 percent favored a Palestinian state on the entire land.

One striking aspect was the continued and dramatic decline in popularity of PA chair Mahmoud Abbas. He currently enjoys the support of just 13 percent, down from nearly 16 percent before the elections, and 25 percent last May (shortly after his election).

The second-most popular leader is Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' electoral list, who was supported by 11 percent of respondents. Haniyeh was followed by Khaled Meshal, head of Hamas' political bureau, with 8 percent, then Fatah's Marwan Barghouti with 6 percent. Barghouti, who is serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison, was in past years the second-most popular figure in the territories.

The JMCC poll indicates that Hamas' rise to power does not attest to a widespread radicalization of the Palestinian public. This public remains intent, generally speaking, on pursuing negotiations with Israel and finding a solution of co-existence.

A slight majority of 52 percent thinks the new Palestinian government should honor the Oslo Accord, compared to 42 percent who said the new government is not obligated to do so.

Asked who they would vote for today, 41 percent said Hamas, and 31 percent said Fatah. Most respondents were optimistic about the new parliament's ability to function.