Public Support for Israel in Western Europe Hits Historic Low, New Poll Finds

June 3, 2025 News
Tens of thousands rallied across France to protest hate crime and crackdown on Palestine solidarity. (Photo: Bound Mbaye, supplied)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Overall, only 13-21 percent of respondents in any country have a favourable opinion of Israel, compared to 63-70 percent who have an unfavourable view.

Public support and sympathy for Israel have reached the lowest level in Western Europe, the latest results from a YouGov EuroTrack survey revealed.

The organization said net favorability towards Israel in Germany (-44), France (-48) and Denmark (-54) was the lowest level since it started tracking in 2016, while in Italy (-52) and Spain(-55) it was likewise at its “lowest or joint lowest levels, albeit over a shorter timespan from 2021 onwards.”

Overall, only 13-21 percent of respondents in any country have a favourable opinion of Israel, compared to 63-70 percent who have an unfavourable view, the survey found.

Few respondents approve of Israel’s conduct in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been under a military assault since October 2023, resulting in the deaths of more than 54,000 Palestinians.

Justification of Military Operation

Only between six percent and 16 percent of respondents in the six EuroTrack countries believe that Israel was “right to send troops into Gaza and have generally responded in a proportionate way to the Hamas attacks.”  This, a YouGov report said, was “down slightly from the prior survey in October last year.”

Therefore, the report noted, it was unsurprising that 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,” YouGov noted.

At the same time, the poll found, the number of Europeans who think the original Hamas attacks in late 2023 were justified continues to be low in each country (5-9%).

Sympathy Tracker

Fewer respondents also now ‘side’ with the Israelis “in our sympathy tracker,” the report added.

“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,” it said.

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At the same time, between 18 percent and 33 percent were found to sympathise more with the Palestinian side, with the results for Germany being similar, with 17 percent for Israel and 18 percent for Palestine.

In regard to a permanent peace in the Middle East within the next ten years, the French were the most optimistic although only 29 percent are of this view, with the Danes least optimistic at 15 percent.

Expectations across all countries were that peace is “realistically possible” with figures falling between four and ten percentage points.

Staggering Death Toll

Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.

On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 54,000, wounding more than 124,000, with over 14,000 still missing.

Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.

Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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