Majority of citizens content with Jordan's anti-annexation drive — SSC survey

AMMAN — Majority of Jordanians, at 91 per cent, expressed their satisfaction with the Kingdom's efforts in stopping Israel from implementing the decision to annex West Bank and Jordan Valley lands, according to a survey.

Sixty-four per cent of respondents believe that Jordan has exerted all its efforts to halt the implementation of the annexation in the survey conducted by the University of Jordan's Strategic Studies Centre (SSC) between July 15 and 22, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Tuesday.

Seventy-six per cent of Jordanians hold the view that the Israeli annexation decision will negatively affect the stability of the Kingdom, while 83 per cent are of the view that the annexation constitutes "an attack on Jordanian territories". 

According to the survey, Jerusalem, the Palestinian issue and the "deal of the century" topped the regional issues facing the Middle East with 45 per cent, followed by the Israeli plan to annex East Bank and Jordan Valley territories with 29 per cent.

The majority of respondents, 53 per cent, said that the Jordanian-Israeli relations have "deteriorated " recently, while 31 per cent said ties are "good".

Eighty-seven per cent of respondents to the poll said that they had heard about the annexation decision, and 22 per cent of them believe that Jordan should halt all agreements and commitments with Israel if the latter decided to continue with its annexation plan.

Meanwhile, 70 per cent of respondents think that the internal friction in Palestine has helped Israel to move forward with its annexation plan, and 57 per cent of them said that Jordan's interest in the current phase is to maintain a minimum level of ties with Israel, according to the survey. 

Regarding developments on the home front, 55 per cent of respondents believe that "the situation in Jordan is on the right track", while 40 per cent think otherwise.