Israel / Gaza conflict: 7 in 10 Britons concerned about plight of civilians on both sides

• 6 in 10 concerned about potential impact of conflict on UK national security, economy and community relations
• Public most likely to want the UK government to be a neutral mediator in the conflict – rather than support a particular side – in contrast with American public

New polling from Ipsos, conducted October 20-23rd, explores public attitudes to the current conflict in Israel and Gaza amongst British adults. This includes, how closely the public are following the conflict, how much they claim to know about the historic reasons for it, what role they would like the UK government to play and who they hold responsible for the conflict itself.

Background and knowledge of conflict

• 69% of Britons say they are following the current conflict in Israel and Gaza very or fairly closely. This is more than the 62% that say the same about the Russian invasion of Ukraine but less than the 81% that claim to be following stories related to the rising cost of living.
• 58% claim to know a great deal or fair amount about the current conflict in Israel and Gaza and 53% claim to know a great deal or fair amount about the historic reasons for the conflict involving Israelis and the Palestinians. However, just 15% claim to know ‘a great deal’ about each.

Strong public concern for civilians (and other potential consequences)

• More than 7 in 10 Britons are concerned about the impact of the current conflict in Israel and Gaza on Palestinian (74%) and Israeli (71%) civilians.
• 6 in 10 or more are concerned about the impact on UK national safety and security (63%), community relations in the UK (62%) and the UK economy (60%).

What role should the UK government play?

• The British public are more likely to want the UK government to be a neutral mediator in the conflict (37%) or to not be involved at all (16%) than to either support Israel (13%) or the Palestinians (12%).

Looking deeper, there are demographic differences in the findings.

• Those aged 18-34 are more likely to want the UK government to support the Palestinians (23%) than the Israelis (7%). But 25% of this group want the UK to be a neutral mediator and 21% say the UK should not be involved at all.
• Those aged 55-75 are more likely to want the UK government to support Israel (22%) rather than the Palestinians (4%). Although 44% want the UK government to be a neutral mediator and 15% say the UK should not be involved at all.
• 2019 Conservative and Labour voters are both most likely to want the UK government to be a neutral mediator in the conflict (44% and 42%). Though 2019 Conservatives are more likely to want the UK to support Israel (26%) than the Palestinians (5%) and 2019 Labour voters are more likely to want the government to support the Palestinians (19%) than Israel (7%).

Comparing the views of the British and US public

When we compare results to a similar (but not identical) poll by Ipsos in the US for Reuters, we note some differences in the views of the British and American public. The US public is much more likely to want their government to support Israel and much less likely to want them to support Palestinians than the British public. Though it should be stressed that these polls were conducted at different times and answer choices presented were not identical – with British respondents offered don’t know and prefer not to say options. However, these findings do lend some insight into the differing public perspectives in each country.

What involvement should the UK / United States have in the current conflict in Israel and Gaza, if any?

* Options not available to US respondents

Who do the British public blame most for the conflict?

• The British public are most likely to blame Hamas for the current conflict (32%). Almost three in ten (29%) say they don’t know who is most responsible for the conflict, whilst 15% blame the Israeli government.

Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, says of the findings:

These findings show strong levels of public concern about the current conflict in Israel and Gaza amongst the British public. They are most concerned about the plight of Israeli and Palestinian civilians but they are also worried about security and community relations in Britain too.
The public appear much less inclined to want their government to take a definitive side in the conflict than Americans. The British are most likely to want their government to be a neutral mediator in the conflict, but the Americans are most likely to want their government to support Israel. Although in both nations a diversity of opinion is shown.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,020 GB adults aged 18-75. Interviews were conducted online from 20-23 October 2023.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
Further information about the US poll for Reuters referenced can be found here. In this survey, 1,003 Americans were interviewed online between October 12-13, 2023.