A recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that while Fatah still leads Hamas in support from Palestinian Authority Arabs, Hamas head in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh is now more popular than Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria.
The poll was conducted on March 5-7. Researchers questioned more than 1,200 PA Arab adults from Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
Haniyeh now leads with 47 percent support to Abbas's 45 percent. At the beginning of the year a similar poll showed Abbas leading with 48 percent support to Haniyeh's 38.
The most popular public figure among PA Arabs was neither Abbas nor Haniyeh, however. Over 60 percent of PA Arabs said that if senior Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti were to run, they would vote for him. Barghouti is serving five life sentences in Israel after being convicted on several counts of murder.
The poll appeared to show that the Cast Lead operation in Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009 had not hurt Haniyeh's popularity, or that of Hamas, despite the heavy casualties the group suffered. More than 600 Gaza terrorists and more than 280 other residents of Gaza were killed in the operation, which began after Hamas fired long-range rockets on cities in southern Israel.
Despite Haniyeh's gain in popularity, Fatah still remains more popular than Hamas, pollsters found. Forty percent of those surveyed defined themselves as Fatah supporters, while 33 percent favored Hamas. The numbers showed a rise in Hamas's popularity, as three months earlier Fatah had received 42 percent support to only 28 percent for Hamas.
Despite Hamas and Haniyeh's gains in popularity, PA Arabs did not seem to perceive Cast Lead as a victory. More than 70 percent said PA Arabs were worse off following the operation.
A similar poll conducted in January by the PA-based Jerusalem Media and Communications Center showed a similar increase in popularity for Hamas, but also showed that the group's gains were primarily in Judea and Samaria. Arabs in Judea and Samaria were far more likely to support Hamas and believe that it had defeated the IDF than were Arabs in Gaza, the poll found.
