London (Quds News Network)- Public support for Israel has dropped to record lows across Western Europe, amid widespread condemnation of its ongoing genocide in Gaza, according to the latest YouGov Eurotrack survey.
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 favourable view of Israel, compared with 63%-70% whose views were unfavourable.
Similarly, of all six countries surveyed, only between 6% (Italy) and 16% (France) agreed that Israel “was right to send troops into Gaza, 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 continuing war in 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.
The polling also found that fewer people now say they “side” with Israel. Between 7% and 18% of respondents said they sympathize more with the Israeli side – the lowest or joint-lowest figure in five of the six countries surveyed since October 2023.
By contrast, between 18% and 33% of respondents said they sympathize 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).
Such views are not confined to Europe. Polling by the Pew Research Centre in April found that US views of Israel had turned more negative over the past three years, with more than half of US adults (53%) now expressing an unfavourable opinion of Israel, up from 42% in March 2022.
A Data for Progress survey last month found 51% of voters opposed to Israel’s plans to send more troops into Gaza and forcibly displace Palestinians, while 51% thought Donald Trump should “demand that Israel agree to a ceasefire”. About 31% believed he should instead “support Israel’s military operation”.
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