Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have suffered a major blow to their international standing, according to new findings from Pew Research Center, which show that negative views of Israel far outweigh positive ones across much of the world following their bloody war on Gaza.
The survey, released on 4 June, found that majorities in most of the 36 countries surveyed hold an unfavourable view of Israel. The research also found that most people surveyed have little or no confidence in Netanyahu when it comes to world affairs.
The findings add to mounting evidence that Israel’s global image has deteriorated significantly in recent years, with public opinion across multiple regions increasingly turning against the warmonger country.
Pew’s survey paints a stark picture: in most of the countries included in the study, negative perceptions of Israel now dominate. Including in countries which are politically closley allied with Tel Aviv, such as the UK and USA.
At the same time, Netanyahu faces a profound deficit of international trust, with respondents in many countries expressing little confidence in his leadership on global issues.
The results are particularly significant because they come from one of the world’s most respected public opinion research organisations and cover a broad cross-section of countries and regions. Rather than reflecting a local or regional trend, the findings point to a wider international pattern of anti-Israel feeling.
As expected, views are particularly negative in the Muslim-majority places surveyed, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Pew clarifies that it was not able to poll Gaza likely due to Israel’s war on the Strip.
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People in all European countries surveyed also give relatively negative assessments of Israel. In Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, around half of adults or more say they have a very unfavourable view of the country.
The UK findings showed a 69% unfavourable view of Israel with the majority of them, 42% opting for the choice “very unfavourable” instead of the more moderate “somewhat unfavourable” view option.
Sweden, Spain, Italy, Holland and Germany all saw 70% or more unfavourable against Israel opinion results.
The US and Canada also have swung against Israel with 60% Americans and 65% Canadians expressing unfavourable views against Israel.
Deeply humiliating
For Israel’s government, the figures are likely to be seen as a serious reputational setback and a sign that its immense propaganda effort to win over support for their narrative regard the Gaza war has largely failed to win over global audiences.
Public opinion abroad has long been regarded as an important measure of a country’s diplomatic influence and soft power. The Pew findings suggest that, across much of the world, Israel is struggling on that front.
The survey’s findings on Netanyahu are equally striking. While world leaders often face criticism abroad, the research indicates that confidence in the Israeli prime minister is notably weak across the countries surveyed including in Europe and the US. In many cases, respondents expressed little or no confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
Taken together, the results amount to a damning assessment of both the Israel’s international image and the standing of its longest-serving leader.
The findings arrive at a time when Israel continues to face intense scrutiny on the global stage. While Pew’s research does not seek to explain the reasons behind public opinion, the survey results will widely be seen as a result of Israel’s bloody actions in Gaza and growing online scrutiny of Zionism in podcasting spaces.
