Elections and the Priorities of the Palestinian People

Every time the issue of holding general elections is discussed over the past twenty years, the question of the priorities of the Palestinian people arises, whether in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. More precisely, what priority do Palestinians set for themselves in general and in both regions? This is a logical question but requires prior answers regarding the issues defined by Palestinians and an understanding of the degree of variation among them on graduated levels or differing demographic patterns; usually, the responses are rhetorical or what we, as speakers on public affairs, believe to be a priority on behalf of Palestinian citizens.

Over the past years, public opinion polls have indicated differences in how the Palestinian public defines the problems faced by Palestinian society that need to be prioritized for resolution. While Palestinians generally agree that the presence of the Israeli occupation is the primary problem; for example, the results of the recent opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion at the end of October 2025 showed that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip agreed on this, with 43% of Palestinians indicating that occupation is the issue (46% in Gaza compared to 40% in the West Bank). Similarly, in the poll conducted by the Aman Coalition in 2024, 38% of citizens pointed to this (38% in the West Bank compared to 37% in Gaza).

However, differences emerge when identifying other problems identified by citizens; in the 2024 Aman Coalition poll, 21% of citizens viewed economic crises as the main problem that should be prioritized for resolution (25% in the West Bank compared to 14% in Gaza), while 18% of citizens indicated that the main issue is widespread corruption (23% in the West Bank compared to 10% in Gaza). Meanwhile, 14% of citizens stated that the main problem is the continuation of division (7% in the West Bank compared to 26% in Gaza), and 3% pointed to the fragility of infrastructure (1% in the West Bank compared to 6% in Gaza).

This variation in identifying the primary problem is not limited to Gaza and the West Bank but can be discovered when examining multiple variables for each issue they believe they face; according to population aggregate (city, camp, and village), income level (high-income vs low-income), age group (youth compared to the elderly), employment status (employed vs unemployed), level of education, nature of work (employees in the public sector, private sector, and civil society), and job categories in the public sector (upper category vs middle and lower job categories).

Conversely, more than two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip demand that general elections be held (legislative and presidential), which is a continuous demand in all public opinion polls conducted in recent years; at least more than half of citizens in Gaza demand it according to the aforementioned public opinion poll; 65% of the citizens expressed their support for holding general elections (72% in the West Bank and 52% in Gaza).

In my opinion, defining the problem or priority for Palestinian society requires deep consideration and rigorous scrutiny to issue judgments regarding the priorities of Palestinians on one hand, and a scientific examination of citizens' positions on the other, in order to be able to forecast their desires adequately, and the advice provided must be sound.