Most adults in three dozen countries harbor negative attitudes toward Israel, Including the United States, Canada and all of Europe, according to a new study by Pew Research Center.
“Views are particularly negative in the Muslim-majority places surveyed, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey and the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” Pew reports in its Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey.
The survey included a mix of face-to-face, online and telephone interviews conducted mostly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 8. The study examined how age, education, economic status and ideological and religious identity correlate to the views of the 44,657 respondents. Researchers also probed attitudes toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sweden and Spain led Western nations in expressing unfavorable views of Israel, with 78% of adults in each country sharing either “very unfavorable” or “somewhat unfavorable” opinions of Israel. Three quarters of Dutch and Italian adults viewed Israel negatively, as did 73% of Germans.
People in Asia and the Middle East held much more negative views of Israel than most of the rest of the world, with Turkey in the lead at 97% followed by Pakistan at 95%, Malaysia at 89%, Indonesia at 86% and Japan at 83%. Only Sri Lanka (41%) and India (28%) had minorities disapproving of Israel.
Majorities of respondents in the Americas also consider Israel unfavorably, led by Canada (65%), the U.S. and Chile (both 60%), Mexico (59%), Colombia (56%) and Argentina (55%).
Among African countries, only South Africa has a majority of adults (58%) who view Israel as either very unfavorable or somewhat unfavorable. Kenya (47%), Nigeria (41%) and Ghana (36%) have minorities with negative views of Israel.
Worldwide, people ages 18 to 34 expressed more negative views about Israel than older adults, led by Australia at 87%, the UK at 78%, Greece and Canada at 76%, and the U.S. and France at 74%.
Pew found a significant disparity in views about Israel between ideological conservatives and liberals.
“This gap is widest in the U.S.: 83% of liberals and 37% of conservatives have an unfavorable view of the country,” Pew reported. “In Australia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, around nine in 10 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.”
While sentiment toward Israel was “fairly negative last year,” unfavorable attitudes became more common in 13 of the 24 countries where trend data was available, Pew said.
“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.”
In the U.S. the share of negative views of Israel in that span increased from 53% to 60%.
Confidence in Netanyahu, meanwhile, is mostly negative around the world. Majorities expressed either “no confidence at all” or “not too much confidence” in the Israeli leader’s ability 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.”
In the U.S., 59% of adults expressed little or no confidence in Netanyahu, compared to 72% in Canada.
Netanyahu is viewed more negatively in Europe, where 88% of Italians, 84% of Swedes and 83% of Germans hold dim views of the prime minister. That is similar to Muslim countries, where 89% of Malaysians, 88% of Pakistanis and 83% of Indonesians express little or no confidence.