New BBC poll shows continuing image problem for Israel in Europe, decline in positive views in US
The latest BBC poll of global attitudes conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA among more than 29,000 people in 28 countries, shows a continuation of deeply negative attitudes to the State of Israel across much of the Western world and beyond while positive views of the Jewish state have even dropped somewhat in the United States.
The poll, whose Israel component I have broken down for the purposes of this entry, asked respondents to rate their opinions of various countries around the world in terms of whether their influence was “mainly negative” or “mainly positive”.
On the positive side, the United States remained by far the most supportive Western country with 40 percent of respondents giving Israel a “mainly positive” rating. However, that marked a seven percentage point decline from the 47 percent rating Americans gave Israel in the 2009 poll. It is worth noting that field work for the survey was carried out between the end of November 2009 and the middle of February 2010, in other words before the recent downturn on relations between Jerusalem and Washington.
Positive views of Israel from other Western countries (with 2009 figures in brackets) are as follows: Canada 23 (28), Italy 26 (33), France 20 (23), UK 17 (20), Germany 13 (9), Spain 9 (10), Australia 17 (18).
On the other side of the equation, (ie in terms of the sense in which Israeli influence is seen as mainly negative) the figures were as follows: United States 31 (34), Canada 38 (52), Italy 46 (43), France 57 (53), UK 50 (51), Germany 68 (65), Spain 60 (71), Australia 47 (67)*.
Clearly, Israel’s image remains extremely poor across the Western world. The decline in positive impressions in the United States may be a statistical aberration of course. But given the current state of US-Israel relations, the figures should at least put us on our guard against a sea change in the United States itself.
Looking at negative views of Israel in comparison with other countries in the world also provides a stark reminder of the broader problem.
While Israel, 50 percent, does marginally better overall than Iran, 56, and Pakistan, 51, it still comes off slightly worse in terms of overall views of negative influence in the world than North Korea, 48 percent. Israel is also viewed as a far more negative influence in the world than dictatorships such as China, 38 percent, and Russia, 37.
This is merely a first quick reading of a poll that has just been released. But it looks at first sight that the problem with Israel’s image is not going away.
*The authors of the report underline the point that negative of views of Israel appear to have fallen sharply in Canada and, especially, in Australia. But they offer no explanation as to why.
Tags: Israel
April 19th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
But how did they pick their sample? By the selection of blogs which I read, they appear to be readers of the MSM. When the genuine facts are considered, the Israelis seem to be much maligned.
April 19th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
The results are uniformly disconcerting to people who know more about the Israeli point of view. It speaks to the ease with which most people are manipulated and the power of the mass media to do so. Refusal to report on positive events within Israel and between Israel and its neighbors suggests that he who controls the press controls public opinion to a truly surprising degree. We may conclude from such poll findings that prejudgment begins at the top and filters down through those who depend for their information on the mass media.
In this regard Israel Matzav reports today “European Union funding
media course in promoting Saudi plan.” (http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/) Given such blatant pressures to be brought on both the European and Israel populace, it is a great wonder that Israel has persisted in its fight for survival so long. May it long continue to “buck the odds.”
April 19th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I’m willing to bet that the same percentages will hold for the very same survey with a simple change: substituting Jew for Israel.
The support numbers for Israel will continue to decline in direct proportion to the decline of religion in the West. Those who do not fear God do not fear to attack His people.
As always, ultimate Jewish existence is in the hands of God, not its enemies.
April 20th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Considering their source (the BBC) perhaps you should question the validity or at least the real meaning of these results.
With these kind of polls it very much depends on what questions you ask, and sometimes (as in this case I suspect) what answers you’re looking to get.
For instance, compare the BBC commissioned poll with these recently published, and completely contradictory results from Gallup (comparable in terms of sample size).
“Americans’ Support for Israel Unchanged Since Gaza Conflict”
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116308/Americans-Support-Israel-Unchanged-Gaza-Conflict.aspx
and
“Support for Israel in U.S. at 63%, Near Record High”
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126155/support-israel-near-record-high.aspx
The Gallup article in the first reference includes this:
“The 59% favoring Israel this year is identical to what Gallup found in February 2008, and similar to the annual reading each year since 2006.”
How can that reflect the same American view of Israel summarised in the BBC report by:
“The USA has remained one of the two countries offering a positive rating overall [for Israel], although this has dropped seven points (now 40%, down from 47%).”
Note also that the headline finding of the BBC report is:
“Global Views of United States Improve”
“Compared to a year earlier, negative ratings of the United States have dropped a striking nine points on average across the countries surveyed both years, while positive ratings are up a more modest four points”
Unsurprisingly (from the BBC) a very pro-Obama finding, and one that sits quite naturally alongside results that vilify Israel.
April 20th, 2010 at 10:57 am
The US has far greater levels of superstitious religiosity than the rest of the Western World but their rates for negative influence have declined dramatically recently. You might want to consider that politics and foreign affairs has some bearing on the issue. In any case your own fear of God never seems to get in the way of attacking his people.
April 20th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
The great variation in perceptions held by people in different countries shows that this survey tells us more about the perceivers than the perceived.
From an Israeli point-of-view, it’s a useful index of ignorance and bigotry across different points of the globe.
Amongst the 28 countries surveyed, Germany now holds most negative opinions of the Jewish state aside from Egypt and Turkey. More Germans hold negative opinions than people in the three other Muslim countries (Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). This is just 65 years after the Holocaust. Well I never, what a surprise.
With 92% of Egyptians assigning a negative opinion and only 3% assigning a positive opinion, it looks as though the peace with Egypt is built on sand. I assume the positives came from amongst Egypt’s mass of illiterates who have trouble with words of more than two syllables. “Positive” and “negative” must have got them confused.
However, the large year-on-year variations in negative opinions in some countries, eg. Australia and Canada (as Robin has indicated), indicate a degree of unreliability in the survey.
What does it mean for Israel in practical terms ? It looks as though the status quo is unsustainable. These perceptions are liable to take a heavy political and economic toll in the long-term, especially as younger politicians who share those opinions reach power. Nick Clegg is the obvious example.
This problem goes way beyond “better hasbara” and means Israel has to make a visible commitment to peace negotiations. If the Palestinians cannot recognise the State of Israel as a nation-state for the Jewish people, then Palestinian duplicity will be exposed for all to see.
April 26th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
The BBC as a news provider/source has no legimacy by now. “No right to exist!” It has self-destructed its credibility not just on Israel, but on virtually any topic of global interest.
April 28th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Honest Reporting has carried out an in-depth analysis of bias at the BBC for the first quarter of this year.
inofihttp://www.honestreporting.com/a/bbcreport.asp