The Background:

As the time for the intended Israeli pull out from the Gaza Strip approaches, the Palestinian Authority has begun intensive movements to rearrange the local Palestinian conditions in anticipation of the aftermath of the withdrawal. In this context the Palestinian President held several meetings with the leaders of the Palestinian factions whom he had earlier invited to join a Palestinian national coalition government. Several of these factions such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Public Front refused the President’s call and proposed the formation of a national committee to supervise the Israeli pull-out from the Strip; the PA rejected the proposal through different statements made by more than one PA official. On the other side of the scene, the PA intensified its efforts to control the local security situation when several cases of outlaw incidents where cited. Outlaw incidents have not become single and isolated ones; they have become a phenomenon that threatens the whole Palestinian society. Such chaotic conditions prompted officials and public Palestinians moves to put an end to this phenomenon; these moves are exemplified in the decision made by the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
On the local level, the Palestinian Legislative Council ratified the Law of Legislative Elections which is based on the Mixed Elections System and that increased the number of PLC members to 132; half of them are to be chosen on the basis of the elections circles system and the other on the basis of national tickets. Upon passing the elections law the Palestinian Authority promised to conduct the legislative elections either at the end of this year or at the beginning of the coming year.
* The Opinions represented in the results reflect those of the study; they do not represent by any means the opinion of An-Najah National University.

The Results:

Following are the results of Palestinian Public Opinion Poll no.13 conducted by the Center of Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at An-Najah National University during the period from July 13-15, 2005. The University sponsors all polls conducted by its Center.
Poll no. 13 undertakes several subjects centered basically around the call made by the PA to the national and Islamic factions to join a national coalition government, the chaotic outlaw situation, the Israeli pull out from the Gaza Strip, the coming Palestinian LC elections, an assessment of the performance of the institutions of the PA, the status of democracy and human rights in the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to political affiliations and other issues.
The sample included 1360 persons whose age group is 18 years and above and who have the right to vote. The sample forms one per thousand from among the total number of Palestinian people of this age group. The enclosed questionnaire was distributed on 860 persons from the West Bank and 500 persons from the Gaza Strip. The sample was drawn randomly and the margin of error is about ±3%. Still 1.6% of the numbers of the sample refused to answer the questionnaire.

Major Results:

• 84.9% from among respondents support the call made by the PA to the national and Islamic factions to join a national coalition government, while 11.2% reject it.
• 75.1% from among respondents support the participation of Hamas in a national coalition government and 20% and reject it.
• 29.1% from among respondents support Hamas’ rejection to join a national coalition government.
• 58.1% from among respondents believe that the PA is serious in its call for the formation of a national coalition government, while 30.7% say that the PA is not serious.
• 61.3% from among respondents believe that the formation of a national coalition government will exit the Palestinians from the current political crisis, and 32.4% say that it will not.
• 51% from among respondents say that the refusal of some Palestinian factions to join a national coalition government serves these factions’ private