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MOST PEOPLE IN 36 COUNTRIES HAVE NEGATIVE VIEWS OF ISRAEL
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Laura Silver and Laura Clancy
June 4, 2026
Pew Research Center
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_ Majorities in most of the three dozen countries we’ve surveyed
this year express an unfavorable view of Israel and little or no
confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. _
A counterprotester holding an Israeli flag passes a group of
pro-Palestinian demonstrators marching in Lower Manhattan, New York
City, in October 2024. , Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Majorities in most of the three dozen countries we’ve surveyed this
year express an unfavorable view of Israel and little or no confidence
in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
These findings come from a Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb.
8-May 13, 2026. Most interviews took place after the United States and
Israel launched a military campaign in Iran on Feb. 28.
Views of Israel
Across the 36 countries, a median of 67% of adults have an unfavorable
view of Israel, while 25% have a favorable view.
Views are particularly negative in the Muslim-majority places
surveyed, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey,
and the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (We were unable to survey in
Gaza.)
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_ unfavorable view
of the country.
Views of Israel are among the most positive in some of the sub-Saharan
African countries surveyed.
Differences by age
In several countries – mostly in North America and Europe –
younger people have more negative views of Israel than older people
do. In Hungary, for example, 72% of those ages 18 to 34 have an
unfavorable view of Israel, compared with 45% of those ages 50 and
older. (Refer to the detailed tables
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for more responses by age.)
_RELATED:_ _Negative views of Israel, Netanyahu continue to rise among
Americans – especially young people_
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_Differences by ideology_
In many countries, people on the ideological left and right express
vastly different views of Israel. This gap in widest in the U.S.: 83%
of liberals and 37% of conservatives have an unfavorable view of the
country.
In Australia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, around
nine-in-ten or more among the left have a negative view of Israel. In
each of these nations, that share is at least 23 percentage points
higher than it is among those on the right.
There are smaller but consistent ideological gaps in nearly every
high-income country surveyed, with those on the left expressing more
negative views of Israel than those on the right. The same is not
consistently true in middle-income countries
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(Refer to the detailed tables
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for more responses by ideology.)
How views of Israel have changed since 2025
While public sentiment toward Israel was already fairly negative last
year
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unfavorable views have become more common in 13 of the 24 countries
where we have trend data. In Argentina, for example, a 46% minority
had an unfavorable view of Israel in 2025. Today, it’s a 55%
majority.
In Australia, Italy, Nigeria, Poland and the United Kingdom, the
shares with _very_ unfavorable views have also increased by double
digits.
Only in Greece have views of Israel warmed since last year. Still,
just 30% of Greeks express a positive opinion of the country today.
Confidence in Netanyahu
Majorities in most countries we surveyed say they are not too or not
at all confident in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do
the right thing regarding world affairs. This includes more than half
of adults in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany, Greece,
Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden,
Turkey, the U.K., and the West Bank and East Jerusalem who say they
have _no confidence at all_.
Kenya and the Philippines are the only surveyed countries where more
than half of the public has confidence in Netanyahu.
As with views of Israel, views of Netanyahu differ by age and
ideology. Younger people and those on the left often express less
confidence in him than older people and those on the right do.
* In Hungary, adults under 35 are 23 points more likely to say than
those ages 50 and older to say they have little or no confidence in
the Israeli leader.
* Those on the left in Australia, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands,
Spain and the U.S. are at least 25 points more likely than those on
the right to say they have no confidence in Netanyahu. Once again, the
largest ideological gap is in the U.S.
For more on differences by age and ideology, refer to the detailed
tables
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How views of Netanyahu have changed since last year
Confidence in Netanyahu has dropped since 2025 in 13 of the 24
countries where we have trend data.
South Korea has seen the biggest change: 76% of adults now say they
are not too or not at all confident in him, up from 64% last year.
In nearly half of the countries where we also asked this last year,
the share who say they have _no confidence_ _at all_ in Netanyahu have
increased by double digits. For example, 45% of Italians said this in
2025, compared with 62% today.
_Note: Here are the __survey questions_
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we used for this analysis, along with responses, and the __survey
methodology_
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Laura Silver [[link removed]] is an
associate director focusing on global attitudes at Pew Research
Center.
Laura Clancy [[link removed]] is a
research analyst focusing on global attitudes research at Pew Research
Center.
* Israel
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