Poll: 75% of Israelis say Syrians won’t give up chemical weapons

In a question about Obama’s handling of the Syrian crisis, 66.7% called it unsuccessful.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Syria Chemical materials and gas masks 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Syria Chemical materials and gas masks 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
More than three-quarters of Israelis do not believe Syria will keep its commitment to dismantle its chemical weapons program, according to a poll published in this weekend’s Israel Hayom.
The New Wave poll of 500 Israelis representing a sample of the Jewish adult population was taken Wednesday, before the deal between the United States and Russia was brokered but on a day in which the Russian proposal dominated the news.
The poll found that 75.6 percent of Israelis do not believe the Syrians will give up their chemical weapons, 12.8% said Syrian leader Bashar Assad would keep his commitment, and 11.6% said they did not know.
When asked who was the winner of the clash over Syria’s chemical weapons, 48.3% of the respondents said Russian President Vladimir Putin, 29% said Assad, 18.3% said they did not know, 8.8% said US President Barack Obama and 8.8% said Israel.
Asked who the loser was, 63% said Obama, 20.6% said they did not know, 17.3% said Israel, 8.7% said Assad, and 3.3% said Putin.
In a question about Obama’s handling of the Syrian crisis, 66.7% called it unsuccessful, 17% said successful, and 16.3% said they did not know.
When asked whether Obama would succeed in preventing a nuclear Iran in light of his handling of the Syrian crisis, 65.3% said he would not succeed, 22.6% said they did not know, and only 12.1% said he would succeed at that key task.