Survey: Palestinian Support for Violence Drops, Most Still Back Terror Salaries

(JNS.org) A new survey conducted among the Palestinian public shows the majority of Palestinians do not support violence against Israel, but overwhelmingly support the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) payment of salaries to terrorists and their families.

The survey, conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in collaboration with Dr. Khalil Shikaki’s Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, was based on interviews with Palestinians from Gaza, the disputed territories and eastern Jerusalem. Palestinians in those areas were polled on issues such as the Gaza electricity crisis, the feud between the PA and Hamas, and violence against Israel.

According to the survey, 39 percent of Palestinians support an intifada (violent uprising) against Israel, down 12 percent from a poll conducted three months ago. More than half of respondents said they favor of nonviolent forms of “resistance.” Yet 91 percent of Palestinians polled believe the PA’s terror payments should not be stopped. 

Both the U.S. and Israel have demanded that PA President Mahmoud Abbas halt the terror payments. In June, the PA rebuffed a claim made by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the Palestinians would stop the terror payments. Tillerson later walked back his statement.