Global support for Israel plummets - report

Support for Israel around the world has plummeted dramatically since its assault on Gaza began, a new survey has found.

According to figures released by the data-gathering company Morning Consult and published in Time magazine, the percentage of people viewing Israel positively after subtracting the percentage viewing it negatively, dropped an average of 18.5 percentage points globally between September and December.

Out of 43 countries surveyed on all six continents, including Brics nations China, South Africa and Brazil, support for Israel dropped in all but one.

The steepest decline in support was recorded in wealthy countries that already had a negative view of Israel. These included Japan, which dropped from -39.9 to -62.0, South Korea, which dropped from-5.5 to -47.8, and the UK, which went from -17.1 to -29.8.

“The data shows just how tough of a road Israel has right now in the international community,” said Sonnet Frisbie, deputy head of political intelligence at Morning Consult.

According to the survey, the US was the only country in the developed world to retain a net positive view of Israel, with net favourability dropping just 2.2 percentage points from 18.2 to 16 between September and December.