Australians have a more negative view of Israel than of China, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. The poll found that women and middle-aged people exhibited the least positive perception of Israel, with only 14% of women and 18% of people aged 35 to 54 having a positive view of the country. Overall, just 19% of respondents had a favourable view of Israel, compared to 24% for China.
The UK was the most favourably viewed country, with 53% of voters having a positive or very positive reaction, followed by European nations with 47% favourability and Ukraine with 41%. The countries with the highest percentage of negative or very negative attitudes were Iran and Russia, both with 57%, followed by Israel with 46%, Syria with 44%, and Palestine with 41%. The Australian government has had diplomatic tensions with Israel in recent years, particularly over antisemitism in Australia and responses to Israel’s wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
The poll also found that Australians’ perceptions of Donald Trump have tumbled since his re-election, with fewer than a third of voters having a positive response to the US president. Only 28% of respondents had favourable or very favourable views of Trump, down from 36% in June 2024. Trump’s favourability among Australians reached its all-time low of 21% in November 2020.
The poll of 1,017 people was conducted last week and asked respondents for their attitudes towards a number of countries, including the US, China, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, the UK, Palestine, and Israel. The questions did not exactly reflect those put in previous surveys, so it is unclear to what extent attitudes to all the countries have changed over time. The poll found significant differences in attitudes towards Trump and Israel based on age and sex, with women and middle-aged people being the least favourable towards both.
Those who said they were voting for One Nation had the most positive attitude towards Trump, with 45% viewing him favourably.
