Overwhelming majority in Arab states want democracy but reject recognition of Israel

A comprehensive study of public opinion across 14 Arab and Muslim countries found that the overwhelming majority support a democratic system, while opposing any recognition of Israel. 

Some 72% said they support a democratic system while 87% believe that financial and administrative corruption is widespread in their countries. 39% say they don’t enjoy full equality.

As for Israel, which has normalised ties with a number of the states included in the survey, such as UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan, 84% of the respondents oppose their home countries’ recognition of Israel. 36% cited “colonialist occupying power in Palestine” as the main reason for opposing recognition of Israel while 9% cited “Expansionist state set on controlling more Arab territory.”

The negative attitude towards Israel across the 14 Arab and Muslim states doesn’t surprise Dr. Yoel Guzansky, a Senior Researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) specialising in Gulf politics & security.

“The Abraham Accords, as well as the peace accords with Jordan and Egypt, were signed with the elites, not the people. In Egypt, most people are against Israel,” Dr. Guzansky told Jewish News.

31-year-old Emirati, Saoud Saqer, is also not surprised that many in the Middle East still don’t want to recognise Israel, saying a lot of them rely on biased reporting from Al-Jazeera or Hamas channels.

“For those whose country hasn’t normalised ties with Israel, they simply haven’t seen the benefits that come with it. That’s why they aren’t supportive of it,” Saqer told Jewish News.

Among respondents from Saudi Arabia, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has his eyes on as the next Arab state to include in the Abraham Accords, 38% rejected recognition of Israel, but 57% decided not to respond.

The fact that so many Saudi declined to respond to that question “demonstrates the difference between the Gulf and the other Arab states. The Gulf is usually more accepting and pragmatic when it comes to relations with Israel,” Dr. Guzansky said.

Still, part of the reason for why Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman hasn’t signed a peace deal with Israel yet, Dr. Guzansky said, is because most Saudis are against it.

“But he will swallow that if he can get other things in return such as weapons from the U.S. Netanyahu says he can contribute to better Saudi-U.S. relations, but can he really?”

Netanyahu might raise the issue of West Bank annexation again to try and blackmail the Saudis into signing a peace deal, like he did with the UAE, Dr. Guzansky said. “But can he sell the same used car twice?”

A majority had a negative view of American, Iranian, French and Russian policies toward Palestinians.

The report found 84% consider policies by Israel and the U.S. a threat to stability and security in the Arab region, while only 57% see Iran and Russia as a threat.

Only 12% said they aren’t religious while a majority in 12 of the countries agreed with the question “No one is entitled to declare followers of other religions infidels/apostates.” An overwhelming majority in Algeria and Mauritania disagreed with that statement.

72% agree “the government has no right to use religion to win support for its policies,” while a a slight majority disagreed with the statement “It would be better for my home country if religion was separated from politics.”

The study, made by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), included 33 thousand respondents from Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. Click here to read the full survey.