As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak prepare for talks Sunday (Sept. 13) to discuss peace issues, a national survey of 800 Egyptians (margin of error +/- 3.46 percent) shows that millions of Egyptians show an encouraging openness to Israel. (Word document, PowerPoint)

Egypt is the lead Arab nation in the region and for the moment has moved toward accepting engagement and normalization with Israel. On many issues, the Egyptian public is ready for peace and has more open views than others in the region.

“This groundbreaking and statistically valid research shows conclusively that Egypt, which made peace with Israel 30 years ago when Israel gave up all of Sinai and Sadat came to Jerusalem, is open to lasting peace,” said pollster Stanley Greenberg, Ph.D., whose firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQRR) led the research. “Clearly the actions of Egyptian leaders – from Anwar Sadat to President Mubarak – stand above those of others in the region. Egyptians are much more open to America, President Obama, and Israel than Arabs in Gaza and Jordan.”

Unquestionably, there is deep resentment toward Israel in Egypt with the sense of a conflict un-finished combined with sympathy for the Palestinians. But in spite of deep hostility to Israel and its leaders in the Arab world, the Egyptian public seems ready to respond to the challenge offered by President Obama in Cairo. His speech was widely and favorably viewed, creating openings toward new steps on Israel, including ending rocket attacks from Gaza, negotiating instead of armed struggle and accepting a two-state solution.

A striking 86 percent of Egyptians had a favorable opinion of the President Obama’s speech. This is remarkable for a speech that touched on so many issues surrounding engagement and normalization with Israel. Younger and middle-aged Egyptians received the speech particularly well, rating it even higher.

Obama’s election and diplomatic approach has lifted ratings for the United States. Reversing an earlier period of hostility, the Egyptian public now gives the United States a net positive rating (30 percent to 20 percent). A near-majority gives President Obama a positive rating – five times as many who give him negative ones.

Given the history of stability on the Israeli-Egyptian front and the new posture of the United States, many citizens there are beginning to approve of diplomatic relations with Israel. A plurality of Egyptians approves of diplomatic relations, 46 to 36 percent. Among those Egyptians with higher education and incomes, majorities approve.

Many Egyptians also are receptive to Israel’s right to exist – a much bigger statement about relations and history. Overall, the public is divided regarding Israel’s right to exist, but among the more educated and less religious, a plurality supports Israel’s right to exist. A 43-34 percent plurality believes in a two-state solution in which Palestinians have their own state and self-government and Israel is a Jewish state. Moreover, Egyptians believe former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat should have accepted President Clinton’s peace proposals at Camp David. Yet pessimism for peace still prevails with nearly half the public believing peace between Israelis and Palestinians is unlikely.

The key anti-Israel players are themselves in trouble in the eyes of the Egyptian people. The Egyptian public has turned intensely against Hamas; only 26 percent give the terrorist group a warm favorable rating. The Gaza conflict hurt the image of Hamas, as 51 percent of Egyptians place some blame on Hamas for the crisis. Furthermore, Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are not well-liked in Egypt, with much disdain for the Shiite strand of Islam. Even with a more open climate toward Israel, doubts linger. Despite shared blame for Hamas, the Gaza conflict continues to hurt Israel’s standing in the eyes of Egyptians.

It is no surprise that one in 10 Egyptians became more negative about Israel after hearing messaging in the Greenberg survey – the very same kinds of things they hear daily from the media and some leaders. What is surprising and encouraging is a similar number become more favorable toward Israel after hearing the messaging. In Egypt, positive feelings about Israel are highest among the better educated and more secular, but the messages produce important gains in lower income and rural areas, creating a broad audience for greater openness towards Israel.

Regression analysis shows the particular power of Israel accepting a Palestinian state and pursuing peace. Looking at this data, shows there are three key areas on which to focus that will provide hope for building acceptance and movement towards peace in the hearts and minds of Israel’s neighbors: 

1. Israel “accepts a Palestinian state,” a two-state solution and will “pursue peace.” This information has even greater impact in the Arab world when people are reminded that Israel gave up the Sinai and Gaza to make “sacrifices for peace.”

2. Israel is right now “lifting restrictions on Palestinian mobility.”

3. Israeli Arabs are faring well economically and educationally compared to other Arabs in the region and Israel teaches tolerance in schools and media and full acceptance of all religious groups, including Muslims.

Said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder & president of The Israel Project, “Most Egyptians have never met an Israeli or a Jew. The focus groups and poll show that Egyptians get most of their understanding of Israel from what they see in the media. Sadly, most Arab media does not yet show that Israeli Arabs have critical rights of free speech, religion and the right to vote. Only rarely do Arab media outlets show segments on coexistence programs where Jews and Arabs are working together for success and peace. They don’t show that the Israel Defense Forces are doing all they can to protect innocent civilians – on both sides. As a result, the majority of Egyptians hate Jews and Arabs. The time for that to change is now. It is vitally important for Egyptians and other Arabs to know that Israel is a country whose people really want peace.”

Greenberg conducted two focus groups of opinion-makers in Cairo May 4-5, 2009. From July 7- Aug. 4, 2009 Greenberg fielded a nationally representative survey in Egypt of 800 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 3.46 percent. The survey was conducted in face-to-face interviews in Arabic.

About The Israel Project’s Arabic Peace Project: The Israel Project’s (TIP) Arabic Media Program is breaking ground --- undertaking public opinion research in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza to find out what Israel’s closest neighbors really think and want -- and how to encourage them to embrace lasting peace. The Israel Project is working for peace by reaching out to journalists because the media are the lens through which the Arab world sees Israel.

Currently Arabic media shows very few of Israel’s many efforts for peace, the large number of coexistence programs carried out by Jews and Arabs who want peace, or the rights of Israeli Arabs. In response, TIP is reaching out to 5,000 Arabic-language media to provide them with access to facts, sources and information so they can offer more complete coverage. So far, more than 2,000 reporters in places such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Jerusalem are opening TIP’s factual materials in Arabic.

TIP’s goal is to help make people-to-people peace possible. A key part of that effort was con-ducting the 1,600 face-to-face interviews (all interviews were done in Arabic by Arabs to residents of Egypt, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza) in order to learn more about the hopes and dreams of Israel’s close neighbors. The groundbreaking research in this new poll will help The Israel Project and others better understand what is important to Israel’s Arab neighbors and what policies really matter to them.