Pew poll: Negative vibes for Israel in 36 countries

After more than three years of waging war against its neighbors, Israel appears to be more negatively regarded not only in the United States, where Israel’s image has been sinking since shortly after the outbreak of its war in Gaza in October 2023, but in the rest of the world as well.

According to a new poll released, majorities — in some key cases overwhelming majorities — of respondents in most of the three dozen countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center between early February and mid-May said they held an unfavorable view of Israel and had little or no confidence in its long-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

A median across the 36 countries of 67%, or two thirds, of the more than 44,000 respondents said they had either a “very” or “somewhat unfavorable” opinion of Israel, while a median of 25% said their views were either “very” or “somewhat favorable.”

The poll found that views of Israel were most negative among respondents in predominantly Muslim countries; among younger adults, especially in North America and Europe; and among those who identified themselves as being on the left side of their countries’ political spectrum. Respondents who considered themselves on the right tended to be more favorable.

Included in the survey were 10 European countries, 12 across Asia (including Australia), four in sub-Saharan Africa, six in Latin America, as well as Turkey, the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem, Canada, and the U.S. itself.

The results for the U.S. respondents of the new international survey, part of Pew’s annual Global Attitudes Project, were released in a separate report two months ago. It found that 60% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, an increase from 53% in 2025 and 42% in 2022. Conducted in the last week in March, it also found that majorities of respondents under 50 in both parties – albeit more among those who identified as Democrats or Independents than Republicans — viewed Israel negatively.

While the global survey began interviewing respondents roughly three weeks before Israel and the U.S. launched their war against Iran February 28, Pew said most of the interviews took place after that date

Views were most negative among mostly Muslim countries, led by Turkey, where 99% of respondents said they held unfavorable views (91% “very unfavorable”); Pakistan, 95% unfavorable (87% “very unfavorable”); Malaysia, 89% unfavorable (79% “very unfavorable”); Indonesia, 86% unfavorable (79% “very unfavorable); and the West Bank/E. Jerusalem 85% unfavorable (80% “very unfavorable”). In Indonesia, “unfavorable” views increased by 6% compared to 2025; in Turkey, the increase was 4%.

Elsewhere in Asia, “unfavorable” views in South Korea rose by 10 points — from 60% to 70% over the past year, the biggest increase for all countries that were surveyed in both 2025 and 2026, according to the survey. In Japan, “unfavorable” views were held by 93% of respondents. The only country on the continent where favorable views of Israel were greater than unfavorable views was India: 32% favorable, 28% unfavorable.

Strong majorities in every European country surveyed by Pew also voiced unfavorable views of Israel. Spain and Sweden led the pack with 78% of respondents saying their opinion was negative. They were followed closely by the Netherlands (76%), Italy (75%), Germany (73%), and Poland (70%).

The biggest year-to-year increase in the percentage of respondents who voiced unfavorable views were found in Italy (9 percentage points), Germany (9 percentage points), and Poland (8 percentage points). Even in Hungary, which had long cultivated close relations with Netanyahu under long-standing but recently ousted prime minister, Viktor Orban, a 54% majority of respondents said they held unfavorable views of Israel, compared to only 32% who expressed more positive opinions.

Similarly, majorities of respondents – ranging from Chile (60%) to Brazil (52%) in five of the six Latin American countries – voiced unfavorable opinions of Israel. In the sixth, Peru, a 50% plurality agreed, while 28% of Peruvian respondents said they had either “somewhat” (22%) or “very” favorable views.

Particularly notable were the results in Argentina, whose right-wing president, Javier Milei, has visited Israel three times since his inauguration in 2023 and who has declared himself to be “the most Zionist president in the world.” Fifty-five percent of respondents there described their views of Israel as “unfavorable” (34% “very unfavorable”). That marked an increase of 9 points from one year ago.

The only continent in which pluralities of respondents said they held “somewhat” or “very favorable” opinions of Israel were found in sub-Saharan Africa. Half of Kenyan respondents said they held favorable views, as did 49% of Ghanaians, and 47% of Nigerians. Nigeria showed a sharp increase in unfavorable views compared to 2025 – from 32% to 41%.

A 58% majority of respondents in South Africa, with which Israel has had a somewhat contentious relationship since the end of apartheid, said they had unfavorable views, 44% “very unfavorable.”