94% of Jordanians oppose recognition of Israel, a new survey shows

A staggering 94 per cent of Jordanians refuse to accept recognition of Israel and ties with the Occupation state, according to a new survey.

In the Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies ‘Arab Opinion Index 2022’ last month, it was revealed that 94 per cent of Jordanian respondents were against any recognition of and ties with Israel, along with 99 per cent in Algeria and Mauritania, 96 per cent in Libya, 95 per cent in Palestine, 92 per cent in Iraq and 90 per cent in Tunisia.

In a seminar at Jordan University’s Centre for Strategic Studies on Monday, the results of the survey were further outlined by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies’ deputy Director, Mohammad Al Masri.

The Jordanian public’s refusal to recognise Israel, he said, is rooted in the fact that it is considered a “colonial”, “racist” and “expansionist” state, which Jordanians view as the greatest security threat to the region.

Masri also shed light on the fact that after Israel, 87 per cent of Jordanians consider the United States as also the greatest threat to the region, with 78 per cent even acknowledging Iran as posing a security threat to the Arab world.

A significant number of Jordanian respondents also expressed their belief that Russian and French policies towards the region and Palestine, in particular, are “negative”.

The survey is the latest of many on the issue of public opinion in the Arab world which maintains that the vast majority of the population is in strong opposition to ties with Israel and that they are far from aligned with some of their governments which recognise the apartheid state and have ties with it.

This survey, includes Jordanians with regards to Amman’s relations with Tel Aviv, which were established at the Wadi Araba treaty of 1994 when a peace accord was signed between the two.