2024-07-13 07:54:00
The survey was conducted between February and April 2024, covering all regions of Lebanon and covering all denominations.
Arab Barometer polls show that while Hezbollah is a force in Lebanese politics and enjoys strong support from the Shiite population concentrated in the south and east, it does not enjoy broad support across the country. However, many Lebanese prefer some of Hezbollah’s basic positions.
Lebanese overwhelmingly support Palestinian rights and condemn Israeli actions in Gaza. The results show increased support among non-Shiite Lebanese for Hezbollah’s role in regional affairs, almost certainly due to the party’s resistance to Israel following the Gaza war, while polls predict that if Israel invades Lebanon attacks Hezbollah.
trust issues
“Arab Barometer” polls show that despite Hezbollah’s great influence in Lebanon, relatively few Lebanese support Hezbollah.
Only 30% said they had a lot of confidence in Hezbollah, while 55% said they had no trust at all.
Here, levels of trust vary from denomination to denomination. Among the Shiite population, 85 percent say they have high confidence in Hezbollah. By comparison, only 9% of Sunnis and Druze and 6% of Christians expressed the same position.
The report compares the current results with the last Arab Barometer poll in Lebanon in 2022, showing a 7 percentage point increase in Shia confidence in Hezbollah, but a 7 percentage point increase in confidence among Christians, Sunnis and Druze. Confidence in the party remains unchanged.
Nor is there widespread support among Lebanese for Hezbollah’s role in regional politics. Only one-third agreed or strongly agreed that Hezbollah’s involvement in regional politics would be beneficial to the Arab world, while a 42% majority strongly disagreed. Lebanese Shiites appear to be the most likely to view Hezbollah’s role in regional affairs positively (78%), while only 13%, 12% and 16% of Sunnis, Christians and Druze hold this view.
Since 2022, however, perceptions of Hezbollah’s active role in regional politics have increased by 9 percentage points.
Notably, this change in opinion did not occur among Lebanese Shias, but increased by 10 points among Druze, 8 points among Sunnis, and 8 points among Christians 7 percentage points.
The increase may indicate Hezbollah’s sympathy for Israel’s positions rather than strong support for the party itself.
Hezbollah’s main backer is Iran, so it is not surprising that Lebanese views of Iran reflect their attitudes toward Hezbollah’s role in regional politics.
36% of Lebanese have a very positive or somewhat positive view of Iran, and sectarian divides have emerged once more: 80% are Shia, while only 26% are Druze and 15% Sunni , 15% are Christians. Despite lower overall support, positive views of Iran have increased by 8 percentage points since 2022, an increase mostly associated with changes in non-Shia views. Iran’s image has improved the most among Druze (9 points), followed by Christians (5 points) and Sunnis (4 points).
Nationwide, only 12% of citizens said they were closer to Hezbollah as a political party.
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