Survey on war against Hamas
The majority of Germans support Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip
November 7th, 2023, 3:12 p.m
After the terrorist attack on October 7th, Israel launched air strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The majority of Germans understand this. German citizens are less happy with Germany’s abstention from the vote on the Gaza resolution in the UN General Assembly.
On the question of whether Germany’s abstention from the UN General Assembly on the resolution The Germans disagree about whether an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was right. This was the result of a survey by the opinion research institute Forsa for the RTL/ntv trend barometer. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock then justified the decision by saying that the resolution did not condemn Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel.
According to the survey, 39 percent of German citizens agree with this view. However, 30 percent are of the opinion that Germany should have rejected the resolution in this form. Only 24 percent think that Germany should have agreed to the resolution.
In addition to the East Germans, the supporters of the SPD (48 percent) and the Greens (44 percent) are most likely to believe that Germany did the right thing by abstaining. Significantly fewer respondents among FDP supporters believe that Germany’s abstention was right (17 percent), while a majority of them believe that Germany should have rejected the resolution (55 percent). On the other hand, almost half of AfD supporters are convinced that Germany should have approved the resolution in the UN General Assembly.
The majority understands the use of ground troops
The Israeli army has been responding to the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th with air strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip for four weeks and is also using ground troops against the terrorists. Despite criticism from aid organizations and other countries that thousands of civilians are dying as a result, a clear majority of 62 percent in Germany understands this approach. However, 31 percent said they had no understanding.
East Germans and AfD supporters in particular do not support Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. 42 percent of East Germans, compared to 29 percent of West Germans, say they have no understanding. Among the supporters of the traffic light parties, the results are more similar: While 69 percent of SPD supporters show understanding for Israel’s attacks, the Greens at 73 percent and the FDP at 76 percent are only a few percentage points more. There is 70 percent approval for Israel’s defensive strike among CDU supporters, but only 46 percent among AfD supporters.
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of RTL Deutschland on November 3rd and 16th. Database: 1003 respondents. Statistical margin of error: plus/minus 3 percentage points.
Further information about Forsa here.
Forsa surveys commissioned by RTL Deutschland.