How are the Germans positioning themselves in the war in the Middle East? A new survey provides answers. The numbers are particularly notable in eastern Germany.
Robert Habeck received much applause for this speech. In an emotional video speech on Friday, the Federal Minister of Economics described the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel as “barbaric violence against innocent civilians” and assured Israel of Germany’s “unrestricted solidarity”. The country has “every right to defend itself and we will support it in doing so,” said Habeck.
His Green Party friend, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who was the first German politician to travel to Israel after the attacks, was also praised for her clear positioning.
A new survey now shows that among Green Party supporters, the opinion of Israel’s reaction to the attacks is by no means as clear as that of their leadership. According to her, although 61 percent find the Israeli army’s military action against Hamas in the Gaza Strip “appropriate”, almost 24 percent reject this. Around 15 percent of Green voters are undecided on the question.
Leftists reject Israeli army actions
For the representative study, the opinion research institute Civey surveyed around 2,500 people in Germany online from October 14th to 16th. It does not depict recent events such as the destruction of a hospital in Gaza under unclear circumstances. The client is the ELNET association, a network of leaders committed to European-Israeli relations.
Overall, 57.9 percent of those surveyed rated Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip as appropriate. 22.8 percent “disagree” or “rather disagree” with this statement, and 19.3 percent were undecided. The highest approval was among Union supporters (68.6%), followed by 66 percent among FDP supporters and 63.9 percent among SPD voters. Among the AfD supporters, only 49.3 percent thought the approach was correct, while rejection predominated among left-wing voters (56.8 percent).
There are clear differences between East and West. While 61.5 percent in West Germany support the Israeli actions, in the East it is only 45.4 percent.
Around 87 percent of the population believes that greater control of aid funds to Palestinian organizations is right. But here too there are differences. Left supporters are only 44.1 percent in favor, while CDU and CSU voters are 95 percent in favor. Among the traffic light parties, Green voters are the most reticent on this issue: 82.5 percent are in favor of tying the aid funds to stricter conditions; for the FDP it is 86.7 percent and for the SPD 87.8 percent .
Supporters of the Left and AfD are less critical of Hamas
A very clear majority of almost 85 percent of Germans rate the role of Hamas in the current war as negative. Here too, the supporters of the Left are out of the ordinary at 72.4 percent. Among AfD sympathizers, only 70.6% consider the role of Hamas to be negative.
“The German population is clearly on Israel’s side in these difficult times,” said ELNET managing director Carsten Ovens star about the results of the study. He sees a “remarkable consensus among the German population to fundamentally change the often non-transparent payment of funds to Palestinian organizations and to attach stricter conditions.” It is also evident that Germans have a “clear desire” for politicians to make greater efforts towards normalization and peace in the Middle East.
Almost three quarters of Germans are of the opinion that Germany should support the “Abraham Accords”, i.e. the peace treaties between Israel and countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. This attitude is particularly pronounced among supporters of the Green Party, which has its roots in the peace movement of the 70s and 80s. They agreed with the statement 89.7 percent. Approval among AfD voters was particularly low.
More than one in ten Germans considers Israel to be “a danger”
When asked which state poses a threat to German security, Germans largely agree. 74.4 percent see Russia in particular as such a threat, followed by Iran (66.9%). Supporters of the AfD and the Left hold a different view: for them, at 46 and 40.6 percent respectively, the USA is the second largest threat to Germany’s security.
And: According to the survey, more than one in ten Germans believes that Israel poses a threat to German security.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
