AMMAN — Half of the Jordanian public expressed
dissatisfaction with the government's official efforts in dealing with major problems,
yet few Jordanians are positively inclined to take to the streets in mass
protests, according to a new poll.
اضافة اعلان
The Jordanian public opinion poll, conducted last
November, was commissioned by the
Washington Institute and implemented by an
independent local company. It showed that relations with the US still enjoy
significant popular support among Jordanians. Just over half of Jordanians (51
percent) say that "good relations" with the US are "very
important" or "somewhat important" to their country. China is a
close second, at 49 percent, while Russia ranks third at just 31 percent.
While support for
US-Jordanian relations during
previous years has seen a sharp decline, from 58 percent who considered it
important in October 2017 to 14 percent in January 2018, support has rebounded
regularly over the past three years. On the other hand, public support for
Jordan’s relations with
China and
Russia has declined, with 66 percent and 47
percent of Jordanians rating these relations as “very important” or “somewhat
important,” respectively, in October 2017.
Even the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is
unexpectedly subject to mixed opinions: about half (49 percent) expect it will
actually have a positive impact on the region, while the other half (45 percent)
expect a negative one.
By way of comparison, only 29 percent of Jordanians
say that "increasing Russian arms sales to Arab countries" has
positive effects on the region. But an even larger minority, 45 percent, say
they see at least some positive impact from "increasing Chinese investment
in many Arab countries".
When asked more specifically about US policies, many
Jordanians chose "pressing for a solution to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict" as a top priority for Washington's regional agenda. This is
roughly in line with previous surveys, with 43 percent giving the same answer
to this question in November of 2020 — but a much higher percentage than recent
results from the Arab Gulf states. Jordanians see that the next priority for US
policy should be "promoting democracy and human rights in Arab
countries" (26 percent), a shift from choosing to contain Iran last
November.
Regarding normalization with Israel, Jordanian public
opinion remains extremely negative, despite the recent warmth in official
relations, with only a fifth of Jordanians viewing the “new economic deals
between Jordan, Egypt, and Israel” in a positive light. Only 13 percent of
Jordanians view "the peace agreements concluded last year between Israel,
the
UAE,
Bahrain,
Morocco, and
Sudan" in a positive light. But views of
these deals are more positive than Jordanians' November 2020 views of the
Abraham Peace Accords, which had only 9 percent support.
At the same time, the Jordanian public also views Iran
very negatively.
Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) agree with this statement:
"Wherever Iran interferes, it harms the local Arabs and does not help the
Palestinians." The same overwhelming majority (64 percent) see negative
consequences for the recent election of
Ebrahim Raisi as Iran's president. Only
14 percent say it is "somewhat important" even for Jordan to have
good relations with Iran. The vast majority (64 percent) opposes "the
moves of some Arab governments to restore relations with the Assad regime"
in Syria.
This sentiment is in stark contrast with recent
official policy, and with the recent dominant discourse on Jordanian social
media — providing further evidence that many respondents are willing to
disagree in particular with the "acceptable political" line that
prevails today. In sharp contrast to their views on
Syria, nearly two-thirds of
Jordanians agreed with “gradual steps to improve Arab relations with Turkey,”
in line with the 65 percent of Jordanians who viewed the Jordanian-Turkish
relationship positively in November of 2020.
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