Public Support for “Israel” In Western Europe at Lowest Ever

By Staff, Agencies

Public support and sympathy for "Israel" in western Europe has hit the lowest level ever recorded by YouGov, the pollster has said, with fewer than a fifth of respondents in six countries holding a favorable opinion of the country.

The survey found net favorability towards "Israel" in Germany [-44], France [-48] and Denmark [-54] was the lowest since polling on the question began in 2016, while in Italy [-52] and Spain [-55] it was also at its lowest or joint lowest, albeit from 2021.

In the UK, net favorability was at -46, a fraction higher than its low of -49 late last year.

Overall, only between 13% and 21% of respondents in any country polled had a favorable view of "Israel", compared with 63%-70% whose views were unfavorable.

Similarly, of all six countries surveyed, only between 6% [Italy] and 16% [France] agreed that "Israel" “was right to send troops into Gaza and has generally responded in a proportionate way to the Hamas attacks”, down on an earlier survey last October. The figure for the UK was 12%.

Between 29% [Italy] and 40% [Germany], on the other hand, agreed that "Israel" was “right to send troops into Gaza, but has gone too far and caused too many civilian casualties”.

The UK figure was 38%. Between 12% [Germany] and 24% [Italy] – with the UK on 15% – felt "Israel" should not have gone into the territory at all.

The Eurotrack survey showed fewer and fewer western Europeans still see "Israel’s" ongoing aggression on Gaza as justified: only about a quarter of respondents in France, Germany and Denmark [24%-25%], compared with 18% in Britain and just 9% in Italy.

At the same time, the number of respondents who said they thought the Hamas operation on October 2023 were justified continues to be low in each country, ranging from 5% to 9% – although it has increased marginally in the UK [from 5% to 6%] and Italy [from 6% to 8%].

The polling also found that fewer people now say they “side” with "Israel". Between 7% and 18% of respondents said they sympathized more with the "Israeli" side – the lowest or joint-lowest figure in five of the six countries surveyed since the Hamas operations.

By contrast, between 18% and 33% of respondents said they sympathized more with the Palestinian side – figures that have increased in all six countries since 2023. Only in Germany were the figures for each side similar [17% for 'Israel'; 18% for Palestine].