UK
Twenty-one per cent of young Britons say Israel does not have right to exist
The latest Sunday Times Poll of British attitudes towards Israel, immigration and geopolitics reveals growing sympathy for Palestine
July 27, 2025 11:58
The latest Sunday Times Poll of British attitudes towards Israel, immigration and geopolitics reveals growing sympathy for Palestine
July 27, 2025 11:58Twenty-one per cent of Britons aged 18-24 say Israel does not have the right to exist, according to a recent Sunday Times Poll.
A study examining British attitudes towards immigration, Israel and the UK’s standing as a global power revealed on Saturday that British support for Palestine is at an all-time high since October 7, particularly among the younger demographic, who were also more likely to acknowledge anti-Jewish views than the older age brackets.
The top words used by Britons to describe the world in 2025 were “chaotic” and “dangerous” according to the poll by think tank More in Common, which recently surveyed over 2,000 British people on a variety of national and global issues, including attitudes towards the Israel-Palestine conflict and its repercussions in the UK.
A quarter of Britons said the UK was unsafe for British Jews, and 10 per cent said they had a negative opinion about Jewish people, with younger demographics proving more likely to admit to anti-Jewish views.
While support for Israel varied by age, those in the 18-24 age group were especially likely to express sympathy for Palestine (45 per cent). Overall, 29 per cent of those polled said they sympathised more with the Palestinian side, compared with 27 per cent who sympathised with neither, 16 per cent who supported both sides equally, 15 per cent who sided with Israel and 14 per cent who did not know.
When asked whether Israel’s military response in Gaza had been proportionate to the Hamas attack on October 7, nearly half of those surveyed said it had been disproportionate. Twenty-eight per cent thought that it had been proportionate and 24 per cent said they did not know.
The poll also showed that while half of Britons did not believe Hamas represented the view of ordinary Palestinians, the number of those who did (16 per cent) had increased by three points since October 2023.
Many of those polled said the UK’s suspension of arms licenses to Israel last year did not go far enough, with 41 per cent expressing support for last week’s call by nearly 60 MPs and peers for a total arms embargo. Twenty-three per cent said that only arms for defensive purposes should be exported, while 14 per cent said weapons for both offensive and defensive purposes should be exported.
More than half of those polled said they did not think there would be peace in the Middle East in their lifetime, and a quarter of voters thought there would be. While a fifth of the younger demographic (21 per cent) said Israel did not have the right to exist, sixty-seven per cent overall said Israel did have a right to exist.
The poll addressed the common practice of sharing views about Israel and Palestine on social media and found that 34 per cent said they had a negative perception of people who posted in support of Israel. Meanwhile, 22 per cent negatively viewed people who posted on social media in support of Gaza.
Regarding the recent proscription of the protest group Palestine Action, 41 per agreed with the ban while 29 per cent said it was wrong. Those who expressed sympathy for the Palestinian side of the conflict were more likely to disagree with the proscription (63 per cent).
The poll also addressed the punk rap group Bob Vylan, who were dropped by their agent and other music festivals after chanting “death to the IDF” during their performance at Glastonbury last month. According to the survey, 57 per cent of people said the band's punishment was justified.
The poll, conducted by the think tank More in Common, questioned more than 2000 people and also held a focus group in Plymouth.
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