CHICAGO: Eighty-seven percent of citizens in the Arab world oppose recognition of Israel while only 6 percent accept it, according to a new survey by the Arab Center Washington DC.

The 2025 Arab Opinion Index, conducted nine times since 2011, surveyed more than 40,000 people in 15 Arab countries on a wide range of issues including politics, economy and identity. 

“An overwhelming majority … oppose recognition of Israel,” Tamara Kharroub, deputy executive director and senior fellow at the ACW, said during a live webinar on Tuesday attended by Arab News.

That finding has been consistent and within range in every poll conducted since 2014, according to the center’s polling data.

The 15 countries surveyed are Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia. 

The highest rates of opposition to recognizing Israel were recorded in Libya (96 percent), Jordan (95 percent), Kuwait (94 percent) and Palestine (91 percent).

A conclusion cited in the poll said: “Those who opposed recognizing Israel cited various factors, mainly linked to its colonial, racist, and expansionist nature and its continued occupation of Palestinian territory. Cultural or religious explanations were largely absent.

“The reasons cited by respondents clearly indicated that their position on recognizing Israel is not likely to change as long as its colonial nature persists.”

Kharroub said the number that accept recognition of Israel “dropped by 2 percentage points in the 2025 Arab Opinion Index, compared to the 2022 survey.”

She added of those 6 percent, “half made such a move conditional on the formation of an independent Palestinian state.”

Yousef Munayyer, ACW’s head of the Palestine / Israel Program and senior fellow, said: “Israel continues to be widely perceived as a threat and not a partner. This is something that has only been escalated in recent years.”

He added: “Normalization lacks popular legitimacy, not just because of the lack of support for it among Arab public opinion, but also because the threat perception in the region has changed significantly over the last several years, and that’s perhaps one of the most important developments since the genocide in Gaza began.”

Seventy percent oppose a peace deal between Syria and Israel that does not include the return of the Syrian Golan Heights.

Other findings include the broader public view that despite different nationalities, 76 percent of respondents see the Arab world as being a “single nation” or an “Arab nation.”

The full survey report can be viewed at www.ArabCenterDC.org.