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
| Country | Total unfavorable | Very unfavorable | Somewhat unfavorable | Somewhat favorable | Very favorable | Total favorable | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 65 | 38 | 27 | 20 | 8 | 28 | North America |
| U.S. | 60 | 28 | 32 | 26 | 11 | 37 | North America |
| Sweden | 78 | 39 | 39 | 16 | 3 | 19 | Europe |
| Spain | 78 | 50 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 17 | Europe |
| Netherlands | 76 | 47 | 29 | 16 | 5 | 20 | Europe |
| Italy | 75 | 48 | 27 | 16 | 5 | 21 | Europe |
| Germany | 73 | 24 | 49 | 20 | 3 | 23 | Europe |
| Poland | 70 | 33 | 37 | 11 | 3 | 15 | Europe |
| U.K. | 69 | 42 | 27 | 18 | 7 | 25 | Europe |
| France | 68 | 36 | 32 | 19 | 5 | 24 | Europe |
| Greece | 65 | 37 | 28 | 21 | 9 | 30 | Europe |
| Hungary | 54 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 4 | 32 | Europe |
| Pakistan | 95 | 87 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3 | Asia-Pacific |
| Malaysia | 89 | 79 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 11 | Asia-Pacific |
| Indonesia | 86 | 68 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 13 | Asia-Pacific |
| Japan | 83 | 36 | 47 | 12 | 1 | 13 | Asia-Pacific |
| Australia | 79 | 49 | 31 | 15 | 4 | 19 | Asia-Pacific |
| Bangladesh | 79 | 64 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 13 | Asia-Pacific |
| Singapore | 72 | 35 | 36 | 24 | 4 | 28 | Asia-Pacific |
| South Korea | 70 | 32 | 38 | 22 | 5 | 27 | Asia-Pacific |
| Philippines | 64 | 36 | 28 | 22 | 10 | 32 | Asia-Pacific |
| Thailand | 59 | 26 | 33 | 34 | 4 | 38 | Asia-Pacific |
| Sri Lanka | 41 | 24 | 17 | 30 | 10 | 40 | Asia-Pacific |
| India | 28 | 17 | 11 | 20 | 12 | 32 | Asia-Pacific |
| Turkey | 97 | 91 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Middle East |
| W. Bank/E. Jerusalem | 85 | 80 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Middle East |
| South Africa | 58 | 44 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 27 | Africa |
| Kenya | 47 | 28 | 20 | 36 | 14 | 50 | Africa |
| Nigeria | 41 | 29 | 11 | 28 | 19 | 47 | Africa |
| Ghana | 36 | 20 | 16 | 31 | 18 | 49 | Africa |
| Chile | 60 | 40 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 22 | Latin America |
| Mexico | 59 | 32 | 27 | 19 | 4 | 23 | Latin America |
| Colombia | 56 | 32 | 24 | 20 | 9 | 29 | Latin America |
| Argentina | 55 | 34 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 21 | Latin America |
| Brazil | 52 | 13 | 39 | 28 | 5 | 33 | Latin America |
| Peru | 50 | 27 | 23 | 22 | 6 | 28 | Latin America |
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 for more responses by age.)
Related: Negative views of Israel, Netanyahu continue to rise among Americans – especially young people
Differences by ideology
| Country | Left | Center | Right | Left-right diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | 83 | 67 | 37 | 46 |
| Australia | 94 | 85 | 55 | 39 |
| Greece | 90 | 62 | 52 | 38 |
| Spain | 96 | 79 | 66 | 30 |
| Canada | 80 | 71 | 52 | 28 |
| Chile | 79 | 64 | 51 | 28 |
| Sweden | 94 | 80 | 67 | 27 |
| France | 86 | 68 | 60 | 26 |
| South Korea | 82 | 75 | 56 | 26 |
| U.K. | 83 | 70 | 58 | 25 |
| Italy | 88 | 78 | 64 | 24 |
| Netherlands | 90 | 80 | 67 | 23 |
| Germany | 85 | 71 | 63 | 22 |
| Brazil | 66 | 53 | 46 | 20 |
| Colombia | 66 | 56 | 54 | 12 |
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.
(Refer to the detailed tables for more responses by ideology.)
How views of Israel have changed since 2025
While public sentiment toward Israel was already fairly negative last year, 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.
| Country | Category | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | Favorable | 31 | 27 | -4 |
| Unfavorable | 60 | 70 | 10 | |
| Italy | Favorable | 29 | 21 | -8 |
| Unfavorable | 66 | 75 | 9 | |
| Germany | Favorable | 31 | 23 | -8 |
| Unfavorable | 64 | 73 | 9 | |
| Argentina | Favorable | 26 | 21 | -5 |
| Unfavorable | 46 | 55 | 9 | |
| Nigeria | Favorable | 59 | 47 | -12 |
| Unfavorable | 32 | 41 | 9 | |
| Poland | Favorable | 16 | 15 | -1 |
| Unfavorable | 62 | 70 | 8 | |
| U.K. | Favorable | 30 | 25 | -5 |
| Unfavorable | 61 | 69 | 8 | |
| U.S. | Favorable | 45 | 37 | -7 |
| Unfavorable | 53 | 60 | 7 | |
| Indonesia | Favorable | 17 | 13 | -4 |
| Unfavorable | 80 | 86 | 6 | |
| South Africa | Favorable | 34 | 27 | -9 |
| Unfavorable | 52 | 58 | 6 | |
| Australia | Favorable | 25 | 19 | -6 |
| Unfavorable | 74 | 79 | 5 | |
| Canada | Favorable | 33 | 28 | -5 |
| Unfavorable | 60 | 65 | 5 | |
| Turkey | Favorable | 4 | 1 | -3 |
| Unfavorable | 93 | 97 | 4 |
Confidence in Netanyahu
| Country | Total no confidence | No confidence at all | Not too much confidence | Some confidence | A lot of confidence | Total confidence | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 72 | 55 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 23 | North America |
| U.S. | 59 | 35 | 24 | 19 | 8 | 27 | North America |
| Italy | 88 | 62 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 9 | Europe |
| Sweden | 84 | 63 | 21 | 13 | 2 | 14 | Europe |
| Germany | 83 | 53 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | Europe |
| Spain | 82 | 61 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 13 | Europe |
| France | 80 | 61 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 14 | Europe |
| Netherlands | 80 | 62 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 17 | Europe |
| Poland | 77 | 47 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 9 | Europe |
| Greece | 76 | 58 | 18 | 17 | 6 | 22 | Europe |
| U.K. | 75 | 55 | 20 | 16 | 6 | 22 | Europe |
| Hungary | 65 | 35 | 30 | 22 | 4 | 26 | Europe |
| Malaysia | 89 | 76 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 10 | Asia-Pacific |
| Pakistan | 88 | 84 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Asia-Pacific |
| Indonesia | 83 | 60 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 15 | Asia-Pacific |
| Japan | 81 | 39 | 43 | 10 | 1 | 11 | Asia-Pacific |
| Australia | 78 | 56 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 16 | Asia-Pacific |
| South Korea | 76 | 37 | 39 | 15 | 3 | 18 | Asia-Pacific |
| Singapore | 74 | 39 | 35 | 22 | 3 | 25 | Asia-Pacific |
| Thailand | 71 | 33 | 38 | 21 | 4 | 25 | Asia-Pacific |
| Bangladesh | 68 | 64 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 19 | Asia-Pacific |
| Sri Lanka | 44 | 27 | 17 | 26 | 5 | 32 | Asia-Pacific |
| Philippines | 40 | 21 | 19 | 39 | 14 | 53 | Asia-Pacific |
| India | 28 | 20 | 7 | 24 | 11 | 34 | Asia-Pacific |
| Turkey | 95 | 90 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Middle East |
| W. Bank/E. Jerusalem | 85 | 79 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Middle East |
| South Africa | 56 | 42 | 14 | 18 | 7 | 25 | Africa |
| Nigeria | 45 | 31 | 13 | 27 | 16 | 43 | Africa |
| Kenya | 39 | 26 | 13 | 37 | 19 | 56 | Africa |
| Ghana | 38 | 20 | 19 | 25 | 13 | 38 | Africa |
| Mexico | 65 | 39 | 26 | 16 | 2 | 18 | Latin America |
| Chile | 64 | 46 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 14 | Latin America |
| Brazil | 64 | 49 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 21 | Latin America |
| Argentina | 63 | 39 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 13 | Latin America |
| Colombia | 63 | 34 | 29 | 16 | 6 | 22 | Latin America |
| Peru | 57 | 31 | 26 | 14 | 3 | 18 | Latin America |
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.
How views of Netanyahu have changed since last year
| Country | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 64 | 76 | 12 |
| Italy | 80 | 88 | 8 |
| Hungary | 57 | 65 | 8 |
| Argentina | 55 | 63 | 8 |
| Germany | 76 | 83 | 7 |
| Indonesia | 76 | 83 | 7 |
| Poland | 70 | 77 | 7 |
| U.K. | 68 | 75 | 7 |
| U.S. | 52 | 59 | 7 |
| Nigeria | 38 | 45 | 7 |
| Sweden | 78 | 84 | 6 |
| Australia | 72 | 78 | 6 |
| Canada | 66 | 72 | 6 |
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 we used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.
