More than half of Egyptians say the peace treaty with Israel should be annulled, a new poll has found.
Some 54 percent are prepared to overturn the treaty, with 36 percent saying the treaty should be maintained. Some 10 percent said they did not know, according to a nationwide survey from Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project.
Some 20 percent of Egyptians have a favorable opinion of the United States, basically unchanged from 17 percent who rated the U.S. favorably in 2010. When asked their opinion about the U.S. response to the political situation in Egypt, 39 percent responded that the U.S. has had a negative impact, while 22 percent say it has had a positive effect. Some 35 percent said that the U.S. has neither positively nor negatively influenced the situation in their country.
Fifteen percent of Egyptians surveyed want closer ties with the U.S., while 43 percent would prefer a more distant relationship. Forty percent would like the relationship between the two countries to be the same as it has been in recent years.
Some 71 percent of Egyptians said a democracy is preferable to any other type of government, up from 60 percent last year. In addition, 64 percent say they favor a democratic form of government over a strong leader.
Meanwhile, 62 percent of Egyptians surveyed think laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Koran.
The survey, conducted March 24 to April 7 in face-to-face interviews conducted in Arabic among 1,000 Egyptians, part of the larger Spring 2011 Pew Global Attitudes survey conducted in 22 countries and the Palestinian Authority under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.