Poll finds Palestinians doubt ME peace

JERUSALEM, June 30 (UPI) -- A Palestinian majority says U.S. President Barack Obama's speech failed to improve the situation in the Middle East, a poll indicates.

The poll, conducted in June and published by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center Monday, found 49.8 percent of participants said they believe nothing has changed in the Middle East since Obama took office, compared with 40.8 percent who said the situation has improved.

More than a third -- 35.4 percent -- said they believe the U.S. administration will do whatever it can to reach a "just peace" between Israel and the Palestinians, with 49.1 percent saying American policies will fail to have any impact.

The poll notes Palestinian support for Hamas is waning, with 18.8 percent saying they support the movement compared with 27.7 percent in a similar poll conducted in January. Support for Ismail Haniyah, the Hamas leader in Gaza, has also suffered a setback, the poll indicated, dropping from 21.1 percent in January to 14.8 percent.

Support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, on the other hand, has increased from 13.4 percent to 17.8 percent, the poll found, noting at the same time 32.9 percent say they do not trust any Palestinian leaders.

As for the new Israeli government led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, 61.1 percent said they believe it will have a negative impact on the peace process and 31.1 percent said it will have no impact.

The center said 1,199 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza participated in the poll June 20-24. The margin of error was 3 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent, the center said.