An overwhelming majority of Saudi citizens reject normalization and think Israel is so weak and internally divided that it can be defeated someday.
A new poll, conducted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has revealed that a stunning 96 percent of Saudi citizens think that “Arab countries should immediately break all diplomatic, political, economic, and any other contacts with Israel, in protest against its military action in Gaza.”
The poll, conducted from November 14 to December 6 on a representative sample of 1,000 Saudi citizens, was published on Thursday.
The resolution calls for boosting aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip. However, it falls short of enforcing a clear UN aid mechanism.https://t.co/4d180msiN3 pic.twitter.com/EnhMUAplIV
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 22, 2023
‘Israel is Weak’
The poll also found a major change in attitude towards the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, whose popularity has soured among the Saudi public.
Moreover, only 16 percent of Saudis think that “Hamas should stop calling for the destruction of Israel, and instead accept a permanent two-state solution to the conflict based on the 1967 borders”.
The same trend can be noted regarding the Hamas’ military operation in southern Israel on October 7.
According to the poll, “the overwhelming majority of Saudis (95 percent) responded that Hamas did not actually kill civilians when asked about whether they believed the Hamas killing of civilians was against Islam.”
A vast majority of Saudis (87 percent) also think that “recent events show that Israel is so weak and internally divided that it can be defeated some day.”
Reporting on the news, The New York Times cited analysts as saying that “the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, must still take public opinion into account as he weighs decisions.”
The findings of the survey, according to the American newspaper, also pose “a significant challenge to the Biden administration’s push for Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.”
In the article, top Israeli analyst Amos Harel illustrates several critical issues that are making it particularly difficult for Tel Aviv to prolong this phase of the war.https://t.co/ECXUkpdw2T pic.twitter.com/HDajW227jG
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 22, 2023
‘Wishful Thinking’
“For years, US and Israeli media invested in a false narrative that the Saudis have abandoned Palestine and that normalization between Israel and the Kingdom, in fact, the entirety of the Muslim world, was just a matter of time,” Ramzy Baroud, Palestinian journalist and political analyst, said.
“This poll is not the first time that Saudis prove that their solidarity with Palestine is unconditional and that talks about ‘integrating’ Israel into the Middle East at the expense of the Palestinian cause were nothing but wishful thinking,” Baroud added.
“It is equally important to note that the Saudis are also fully aware that Israel would have not been able to prolong its genocide of the Palestinians without direct US military backing and political support. That, too, shall have consequences in the perception of the Saudis, in fact, all Arabs and Muslims, of Washington.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
it’s all bullshit. no one’s going to help, because nobody has done anything for years. It’s part of the plan obviously or it wouldn’t be happening. the UN, UNSC, et al, is the problem. kick out America and Israel. until then you will not have peace.
True talk
IT’S VERY EASY TO WALK AWAY. It’s even harder to be a ‘ruler’. Saudi’s can be ‘nice’ people, I had a roommate in Indianapolis but GOV and people are not the same thing in Saudi Arabia. I raise my cane.