Pew: Egyptians don't want Israeli peace

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The majority of Egyptians say the peace treaty with Israel should be annulled, a survey by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project reveals.

The Washington institute found most Egyptians who participated in the survey called for an end to the 1979 treaty with Israel, with slightly more than a third saying the treaty should be upheld, the survey published Monday said.

"By a margin of 54 percent to 36 percent, Egyptians say their country should annul the treaty with Israel," the survey said.

When asked about the U.S response to the political turmoil in Egypt, 39 percent said it had a negative impact on the situation, 22 percent said it had a positive effect and 35 percent said the impact was neither positive nor negative.

Fifteen percent said they would like Egypt to have closer ties with the United States, 43 percent said Egypt should maintain a more distant relationship and 40 percent said ties between the two countries should remain the same.

As for the dramatic political changes in the country, 88 percent said the military has had a good influence and 90 percent rate army chief Mohammed Tantawi favorably. The Egyptian police force is viewed by 61 percent of those queried as having a bad influence while 39 percent said it had a good influence, the poll found.

The nationwide survey conducted by the Center was based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults between March 24 and April 7. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.