Negative views of Israel soar across 36 countries since Iran war, survey finds

Pew found a marked increase in unfavourable views of Israel, with nearly every country surveyed hosting majorities with negative views

By MEE staff

Published date: 5 June 2026

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/negative-views-israel-soar-across-36-countries-iran-war-survey-finds

Negative views of both Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have soared since last year across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, according to a new poll from Pew Research Center. 

Out of 36 countries, majorities in 32 of them have either a very unfavourable or somewhat unfavourable view of Israel, with only respondents in India, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya holding a favourable view of the country. 

The survey was conducted between 8 February and 13 May of this year. The US-Israel war on Iran started on 28 February and has had an impact on countries across the world, in part likely due to the economic impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where around 20 percent of the global oil supply passes through. 

Pew reported that across 36 countries, a median of 67 percent of adults held an unfavourable view of Israel, with just 25 percent holding a favourable view. 

Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem had the highest percentage of unfavourable views of Israel, with Turkey at 97 percent and Japan at 83 percent.

In the Anglophone world, specifically the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, all had majorities that held unfavourable views of Israel at 60, 65, 79, and 69 percent respectively.

All ten countries surveyed in Europe also held generally unfavourable views of Israel, with Sweden and Spain topping out at 78 percent each and Hungary with the most favourable views of Israel, but still carrying a majority, 54 percent, who held unfavourable views. 

Israel's war on Gaza and subsequent genocide has led to a global hardening of views against the country over the past three years. But the war on Iran appears to have triggered a strong response across the world, with significant year-on-year spikes in unfavourable views of Israel.

Israel's actions in Gaza, deemed a genocide by leading scholars, human rights organisations and political leaders, resulted in the death of at least 73,000 Palestinians since 7 October 2023. Its bombardment of the Gaza Strip has either destroyed or damaged 81 percent of structures in the enclave, with an estimated $18.5bn in damages according to the United Nations. 

Effects of war on Iran

Some of the fallout from the genocide was visible in Pew's survey last year, but since then there has been another spike, likely connected to the war in Iran. 

Nigeria, where 47 percent have favourable views of Israel, saw a nine percent increase in unfavourable views of Israel. South Korea had the largest jump in unfavourable views, marking a ten percent jump. 

Germany, Italy, Argentina, Poland, the UK,  and the US all recorded between a seven and nine percent jump in unfavourable views. 

Pew showed that people on the left of the political spectrum tended to hold more negative views of Israel than their counterparts on the right. The ideological gap was widest in the US, where 83 percent of liberals held negative views and just 37 percent of conservatives held negative views. 

That ideological gap is more prevalent in high-income countries but does not necessarily hold true in middle-income countries, according to the survey's authors.

Only two countries, the Philippines and Kenya, had confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu "to do the right thing regarding world affairs". Majorities of respondents in every other country had no confidence at all or little confidence in Netanyahu.

The same leap in unfavourable views of Israel was reflected in respondents' views of Netanyahu, with prominent increases in people losing confidence in Netanyahu's leadership over the past year.