A recent EuroTrack survey in Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom highlights the shift in public opinion in these six Western countries regarding Israel, with a historically low perception of its Government.
The survey was conducted by YouGov, a UK-based international market research and data analysis firm founded in 2000. It uses online surveys to gather diverse opinions, including social and political trends. It found that between 13% and 21% of respondents expressed positive opinions of Israel, while unfavorable opinions ranged from 63% to 70% depending on the country.
The trend reflects a profound shift in the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The most indicative measure is the «net favourability» score, or the difference between favourable and opposing opinions, which stands at -44 in Germany, -48 in France, -54 in Denmark, -52 in Italy, -55 in Spain, and -46 in the United Kingdom.
A minority of between 6% and 16%, depending on the country, believes that Israel has responded proportionally to the attack it suffered in the fall of 2023. Sympathy for the Palestinian cause is growing, with the percentage of people identifying with Israel going from 18% to 33% to 7% to 18%.
Regarding the possibility of lasting peace in the Middle East in ten years, only between 15% and 29% of respondents believe it is possible. Pessimism shows increased hostility or skepticism toward Israeli policies following the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz, viewing the Israeli military response to Gaza as excessive in terms of civilian casualties.
Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Director of the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center Foundation (CDEC), offers a fundamental interpretation: «The term is complexity. It is, to all intents and purposes, the exact opposite of propaganda and has the defect — in terms of intellectual and political marketing — of not offering the public the certainties it seeks.»
Luzzatto Voghera calls for a rigorous and complex analysis that avoids simplifications and manipulations of language. He warns: «All the work of civic growth carried out in the context of reflection on Holocaust memory risks being weakened and is detrimental to our democracies.»
European Governments are also signaling a stance of distancing themselves from Israel: Germany, traditionally sympathetic to that country and a major arms exporter, is pitting 73% of Germans against its Authorities by calling for controls on arms exports to Israel, and 30% are calling for a total ban.
Antisemitism is also on the rise, which Luzzatto Voghera defines as a structural phenomenon: «Perhaps throughout Europe, but especially here in Italy, we have not yet come to terms with this evidence and with our history.» He warns: «If Jewish or Israeli students are afraid to go to universities, their right to study is questioned. If synagogues are guarded by the police and attending them becomes a risk, it is religious freedom in Italy that is threatened.»
By RAFAEL LLANES | Zenit
Source Link: https://zenit.org/2025/06/18/israels-popularity-plummets-as-gazas-civilian-population-is-being-exterminated/
