One in three Britons now say they have ‘no sympathy at all’ for the Israeli side in the conflict
Tuesday marks the second anniversary since the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas on civilians in Israel, which prompted the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Ahead of this milestone, the results of a new YouGov survey – conducted on 17-18 September – show where public attitudes stand two years on.
Sympathy for the Israeli side has fallen to the lowest level since the conflict began
Just 12% of Britons say they sympathise most with the Israeli side in the conflict, the lowest since the 7 October attacks. At the same time 38% say they sympathise most with the Palestinian side – while this is effectively no different from July’s 37%, this is nevertheless the highest number we have recorded coming down on the side of the Palestinians.
A further 17% say they sympathise with “both sides equally”, while 32% answered “don’t know”.
Sympathising more with one side than the other does not necessarily mean that Britons don’t have some degree of sympathy for both sides, however this latest poll discovers the number of Britons with ‘no’ sympathy for the Israeli side has hit its highest level to date.
More than a third of the British public (35%) say that they “don’t sympathise at all” with the Israeli side, a five point increase from July. Only 10% say they sympathise “a great deal” with the Israelis, while 29% say the sympathise “somewhat” – collectively these are at their lowest level since we first asked in November 2023.
Sympathy for the Palestinian side has, by contrast, stayed effectively static since the summer, with 35% having a great deal of sympathy and 26% being somewhat sympathetic, for a combined total of 61% (compared to 62% previously). Only 16% have no sympathy at all for the Palestinian side, again just a one point difference with the prior poll.
Record numbers believe Israeli action in Gaza is not justified
The number of Britons who believe Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza since October 2023 are not justified has risen six points since July to 57%, the highest level to date. At the same time, the 18% who continue to see the attacks as justified is the joint-lowest level we have recorded.
That is not to say that Britons do not think the Israelis were wrong to have sent troops into Gaza in the first place – 50% thing they were right to do so, although this includes 40% who think they have since gone too far. These figures have remained largely unchanged since we first asked at around the time of the one year anniversary of the conflict.
Only 17% of Britons think the Israelis were wrong to have sent the military in to Gaza in the first place.
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Photo: Getty
