David Pollock examines the data from a recent survey of public opinion in Saudi Arabia. While some of the results are disheartening, others are less so:
Against the background of [last] week’s exchanges of fire between Israel and Gaza, it is striking that the solid majority (76 percent) of Saudi citizens say that Hamas “firing missiles or rockets [at] Israel from Gaza” will have “negative effects on our region.” Moreover, as in previous polls since November 2020, around 40 percent of Saudis continue to accept economic ties with Israel. In this survey, 38 percent answered in the affirmative to this proposition: “If it would help our economy, it would be acceptable to have some business deals with Israeli companies.”
By way of instructive comparison, affirmative responses to this question in Egypt or Jordan, both officially at peace with Israel for several decades, have hovered at around the 10-percent range in every recent survey.
This relatively high level of popular acceptance and nuanced attitudes, however, does not mean that most Saudis favor full normalization with Israel today—nor active cooperation with it against Iran. Again as in previous recent polls, just 20 percent say that the Abraham Accords will yield positive results for the Middle East.
[A] large majority (81 percent), surprisingly, also agree with this deliberately provocative statement: “In case of an earthquake or other natural disaster, as we just saw in Turkey and Syria, Arab countries should refuse any humanitarian aid from Israel.”
Read more on Washington Institute for Near East Policy: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/new-saudi-opinion-poll-shows-40-percent-still-back-some-ties-israel-three-fourths