YouGov UK
March 15-19, 2024
The Details
1. The trend in sympathy for the Palestinians continues, as does the loss of sympathy for Israelis, even though the latter hasn’t reached pre-October 7 numbers, while the former has surpassed pre-war sympathies.
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This month, 29% are more sympathetic to the Palestinians (up 1% from last month) and 15% towards the Israelis (down 1%), 31% are unsure (down 3%) and 25% are sympathetic to both (up 3%).
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Before Oct 7, approximately 10% were sympathetic towards Israel and 23% were sympathetic towards the Palestinians.
2. Only 1 in 10 Brits who sympathize with the Palestinians approve of Hamas and support expelling the Jews from Israel, and 14% say they think the October 7 attack was justified. This is a small and vocal minority, but not indicative of the general British population.
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Among those who say that they sympathize more with the Palestinians in the current conflict, 11% have a favorable view of Hamas (including just 3% with a “very” favorable view). By contrast, 77% of this group say they have an unfavorable view of Hamas, including 54% who have a “very” unfavorable view.
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Likewise, only 14% of those who sympathise most with the Palestinian side say that Hamas’s attacks on 7 October were justified (70% say they were not), and 11% support expelling the Jews from the region (79% are opposed).
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83% of those who sympathise more with the Palestinians support a two-state solution to the conflict in the Middle East.
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Only 5% of ALL Britons see Hamas’ attack on Israel as justified; 24% say the same of the continuing Israeli attack on Gaza.
3. Most of the Brits who are more on the Israeli side have a favorable view of the Israeli government.
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71% of those who sympathize more with Israel have a favourable view of the Israeli government, and 87% say the Israeli attack on Gaza is justified.
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A quarter (24%) of those who sympathize more with Israel support expelling the Palestinians as a way of resolving the conflict in the region, although as with all other groups, the most supported proposal is for the two-state solution, at 66%.
4. The British people overwhelmingly are unsupportive of Hamas, and only 15% are supportive of the Israeli government.
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Among the wider British population, only 4% say they have a favourable view of Hamas, with 70% having an unfavourable one.
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The Israeli government is very unpopular, with just 15% having a positive opinion about it in Britain and 58% a negative one (including 34% who are “very” negative).
Key Takeaways
The Brits continue to view Israel very critically and the Palestinians sympathetically, and this is becoming part of the government’s stance as well. In the last month, the British government has gone from being a staunch supporter of Israel to a vocal critic. We are losing the support of the British leadership and this is a very slippery slope we have to pay attention to.
Hamas supporters make up only a small minority among those with a more pro-Palestinian outlook. Therefore, claims made by supporters of Israel that people sympathetic to the Palestinians are terrorist sympathizers are not only untrue, they may also have a boomerang effect of pushing those we want to sway in our direction, further away from us.
The most appealing message to British people is one based on the two-state-solution as the most viable prospect for peace in the long-run. Most British people do not support the notion of expelling all the Jews from Israel, just as they do not support expelling the Palestians from the region.
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