Few Western Europeans see Israel’s attacks in Gaza as proportionate or justified
With the Gaza ceasefire only lasting a couple of months before falling apart, Israel have announced plans to capture three quarters of the Gaza strip in the next few months as violence continues in the region.
The results of our latest YouGov EuroTrack survey – conducted in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – show that public support and sympathy for Israel have reached their lowest ebb in Western Europe.
Net favourability towards Israel in Germany (-44), France (-48) and Denmark (-54) has reached its lowest level since we started tracking in 2016. Public sentiment in Italy (-52) and Spain(-55) are likewise at their lowest or joint lowest levels, albeit over a shorter timespan from 2021 onwards.
Overall, only 13-21% in any country have a favourable opinion of Israel, compared to 63-70% who have an unfavourable view.
Few Western Europeans approve of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Only between 6% and 16% in our six EuroTrack countries believe that “Israel were right to send troops into Gaza and have generally responded in a proportionate way to the Hamas attacks” – down slightly from the prior survey in October last year.
Unsurprisingly therefore, fewer Europeans now continue to see the Israeli military operations in Gaza as justified. Approximately a quarter of French, Germans and Danes (24-25%) still see justification for the ongoing attacks, compared to 18% in Britain and 9% in Italy, the lowest figure.
At the same time, the number Europeans who think the original Hamas attacks in late 2023 were justified continues to be low in each country (5-9%).
Fewer people likewise now ‘side’ with the Israelis in our sympathy tracker. Between 7-18% say they sympathise most with the Israeli side, the lowest or joint-lowest figure in five of our six countries since the Hamas attacks.
By contrast, between 18% and 33% say they sympathise more with the Palestinian side; only in Germany are the figures for each side similar (17% for Israel, 18% for Palestine).
A permanent peace in the Middle East continues to look distant to Europeans. French people are the most optimistic that both sides may set aside their differences within the next 10 years, although only 29% think this way, while Danes are the least optimistic, at 15%. Across all countries, expectations that peace is realistically possible have fallen between four and ten percentage points.
What do you think about the conflict in Gaza, the prospect for peace in the Middle East, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
