A new opinion poll commissioned by the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) shows warmth towards Israel in the UK is at its highest level since 2010, with 21% saying that they feel warm towards the country. The survey recorded the lowest level of support for boycotts since 2014, at 11%.
Populus surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2021 British adults in October 2017 on behalf of BICOM.
48% of respondents said they “do not support boycotts of Israel and find it difficult to understand how others do given everything else that is going on in the world”.
Young people have significantly reduced their level of support for boycotts in the last three years, according to the poll’s findings. This year, 45% of 18-24s said they opposed singling out Israel for boycotts, compared to 2015 where just 28% opposed boycotts.
Half of the respondents (49%) agreed Israel is an important British ally in the fight against terror, more than for every other Middle Eastern country in the survey.
46% of respondents believe that “hating Israel and questioning its right to exist” is antisemitic. 17% of people disagree with this statement.
