Around 64 percent of Jordanians support international intervention against ISIS “to a large degree,” up from 54 percent in 2015, according to a new poll by the International Republican Institute. Nearly half of respondents said they support Jordan’s involvement in the intervention “to a large degree.” Jordan is part of the U.S.-led coalition that has been bombing ISIS targets since 2014. It escalated its attacks on ISIS after the group burned a Jordanian pilot alive in February 2015. 

Additionally, around a quarter of respondents said that ISIS has support among Jordanians. The most common reason they provided for this support was ignorance of religious teachings. The following are excerpted results from the poll, which was conducted between April 19 and 24, 2016.

Do you consider the self-declared Islamic State (ISIS) to be a terrorist organization?
 

   Yes

   89%

   No

   4%

   Not sure/Don’t know

   7%

To what degree do you feel ISIS is a real threat to security in Jordan?
 

2015

2016

   To a large degree

   37%

   42%

   To a moderate degree

   26% 

   22%

   To a little degree

   16%

   12%

   Not at all

   16%

   18%

   Not sure/Don’t know

   5%

   5%

   Refused to answer

   1%

   1%

To what degree do you support the international intervention against ISIS?
 

2015

2016

   To a large degree

   54%

   64%

   To a moderate degree

   21%

   16%

   To a little degree

   4%

   4%

   Not at all

   11%

   8%

   Not sure/Don’t know

   10%

   7%

   Refused to answer

   1%

   1%

What is your most important reason for this support?
 

   Fight terrorism & Eliminate ISIS

   53%

   Safeguard regional security & enhance stability

   22%

   ISIS harmed Islam & its image

   16%

   The criminality & corruption of ISIS

   8%

   No specific reason

   1%

What is your most important reason for not supporting intervention?
 

   Conspiracy targeting Muslims and Islam

   38%

   Fear of dragging Jordan into war and instability

   31%

   Not our war/Jordan is far from events

   17%

   Spare Muslims and other innocent people

   9%

   ISIS is not a terrorist organizations

   3%

   The international intervention should be restricted to Arab and Muslim countries

   3%

To what degree do you support the involvement of Jordan in the international intervention against ISIS?
 

   To a large degree

   47%

   To a moderate degree

   24%

   To a little degree

   10%

   Not at all

   14%

   Not sure/Don’t know

   5%

   Refused to answer

   1%

Do you believe the ideology of ISIS has support among Jordanians?
 

   Yes

   25%

   No

   53%

   Not sure/Don’t know

   21%

   Refused to answer

   1%

What are the reasons do you believe for this support among Jordanians?
 

   Ignorance of religious teachings

   29%

   Poverty

   15%

   Wrong belief that Daesh is Islamic State

   14%

   Unemployment

   12%

   Financial gains

   12%

   Religious fanaticism

   9%

   Youth are tricked

   3%

   No specific reason

   2%

   Other

   3%

   Refused to answer

   2%

Do you think ISIS is mainly supported by youth, religious people, or poor people?
 

2015

2016

   Poor people

   24%

   32%

   Youth

   36%

   28%

   Religious people

   30%

   19%

   Not sure/Don’t know

   11%

   19%

   Refused to answer

   0%

   1%

Click here for the full results

Photo credit: Jordanian flags (cropped) by Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0]