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.

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.

As always, ultimate Jewish existence is in the hands of God, not its enemies.

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.”