The Israel-Palestine conflict continues to divide the nation as almost half of Britons say they would consider ending a friendship over the issue.
Researchers from the think tank More in Common UK said polling suggested people with strong views have become more entrenched in the two years since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.
Of around 2,000 adults in Great Britain polled last month, around four in 10 (43 per cent) of those who sympathise with Palestine said they would consider ending a friendship with someone who posted on social media in support of Israel. A similar proportion (46 per cent) of those who sympathise with Israel said they would consider doing the same over a pro-Palestine post.
Overwhelmingly, results indicated most Britons don’t approach the conflict through the lens of “sides” at all, as many feel the issue is complex and that there are good and bad people on both sides.
Three-quarters of Britons did not feel comfortable talking about the Israel-Palestine conflict on social media, while around three in 10 people said they feel either somewhat or very uncomfortable talking about the issue with friends.
Around 67 per cent of people said they either fully or somewhat agreed that some protests about Palestine and Israel are so disruptive that they should not be allowed.
The researchers said: “Public patience for protest is wearing thin – two-thirds of Britons now believe some protests are too disruptive to be allowed, with sustained demonstrations over Gaza contributing to broader backlash against activist movements.”
Polling showed that sympathy for Israel has waned over the last two years, down to 14 per cent when compared with 16 per cent in November 2023. Meanwhile, those saying they sympathised more with Palestine rose to more than a quarter (26 per cent), up from under a fifth (18 per cent) two years previously.
Non-partisanship remained a key proportion, as 27 per cent said they didn’t take a side, 18 per cent said they sympathised with both Israel and Palestine, while the rest said they remained unsure.
Of those who do have strong views, many have become “more negative about those with opposing views” in the past few years, researchers said.
In the days following the Manchester synagogue attack in October, polling suggested a rise in tensions between religious groups in Britain and a rise in Islamist extremism topped the list when it came to respondents' worries about different impacts of the Middle East conflict on the UK.
Around 44 per cent of people in the latest polling said they felt the UK is an unsafe place for Jewish people, while 37 per cent said it is unsafe for Muslims.
Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz were killed in the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur last month. The assailant, Jihad al-Shamie, was shot by armed police.
Luke Tryl, director of More in Common UK, warned that “divisions over the conflict have seriously strained trust in Britain’s media organisations, institutions and politicians”.
He added: “As people with strong views on the conflict have switched off from mainstream media, there is a risk that they move to their own sources of information online, making it much harder for them to have conversations based on shared facts.
“People also assume that those on the other side of the debate are motivated by bad faith, such as that people support Israel because they are anti-Muslim or Palestine because they are antisemitic.
“Caught up in all this is the majority of Britons, who are shocked and appalled by the conflict but do not take a side either way, and particularly Britain’s Jewish communities and Muslim communities who are bearing the brunt of rising hate.
“The government, civil society and those most engaged in the conflict need to do more to find ways out of the growing cycle of polarisation that risks inflicting lasting scars on social cohesion in the UK.”
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