A new survey shows that most Germans believe Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to genocide, intensifying pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government to reconsider its alignment with the Israeli regime.
The survey conducted by YouGov found 62 percent of respondents consider Israeli military actions as “genocidal” while only 17 percent reject this characterization.
According to the survey, two-thirds (67%) of Germans now hold a “negative or somewhat negative” opinion about Israel.
Only about one in five (19%) respondents said that they have a “somewhat positive view,” indicating a significant decline in public perception towards Israel in recent months.
Among the voters of coalition partner Social Democratic Party (SPD), the figure was even higher at 71 percent. About 21 percent remained undecided on the issue.
Left-leaning parties showed the strongest agreement with the genocide label, whereas right leaning parties showed significantly less agreement.
However, more than half of Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters – despite their typically pro-Israel rhetoric – also agreed a genocide was taking place across the besieged Palestinian territory.
While Chancellor Merz and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul have recently sharpened their criticism of Israel’s military offensive and blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, they have so far refrained from using the term “genocide,” referring instead to “disproportionate” use of force by the Israeli military.
The survey also revealed a significant gap between German government policy and public opinion on Palestinian statehood.
Merz has repeatedly opposed proposed EU sanctions against the Netanyahu government designed to pressure Tel Aviv to end its brutal military campaign in Gaza.
Despite the Merz government’s opposition to recognizing a Palestinian state, 44% of German voters supported such recognition.
Germany found itself internationally isolated this week as its close allies France, the UK, and several other European partners, including Belgium, Portugal and Malta, announced their recognition of Palestinian statehood, while Berlin continued to maintain its opposition to immediate recognition.
Germany has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades. Its lethal arms exports to the occupied territories have seen a tenfold increase after Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, making the country an active participant in the genocide unfolding in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Alternative link for Westerners who have .ir blocked
I’m so glad my ISP protects me from myself reading such obviously divisive Communist propaganda such as findings of you.gov polls with obviously fabricated findings such this.
Thank you, Rainpizza, for your inexhaustible work for Burgerlanders. 🫡
I tried using archive but it doesn’t save the charts from the original page -> https://archive.ph/EnbqQ But I hope it helps!
Fortunately, most of the information referenced in the post are also in the archive link.
I will add the original yougov link if anyone wants to try their luck and see if they can archive it with the charts -> https://yougov.de/politics/articles/53032-44-prozent-der-deutschen-wahlberechtigen-sprechen-sich-fur-die-anerkennung-palastinas-als-eigenstandiger-staat-aus
Hm, no luck, on my end. I really appreciate what you do and I don’t think anyone can rightfully complain.
I use a censor free dns which lets me see mostly everyrhing. Just in case this helps you as well. I’m in europe but you can just google it. You need some way to change dns on your device or the router. And ideally you activate encryption as not to tip off anyone about your subersive doings. But if you visit grad without a vpn, they’re likely onto you already.
Thank you, that’s quite kind and I do hope others who may need that information avail themselves of it. I know about vpns, and there are things not within the current budgeting experience.
I don’t think the people in western countries really support what their government is doing. And as we can see on TikTok many gen z and younger people are very critical of what their government is doing. The only people who support this are older demographics probably because they don’t go on mainstream and listen to more to legacy broadcasts. (I could be wrong but seeing the demographics I do think this is why it is happening.)
