Almost half of Australians (49%) say the Australian Government should ‘not take sides’ in the current crisis in Israel and Gaza

Now 49% of Australians say the Australian Government should ‘not take sides’ in the current crisis in Israel and Gaza according to a special Roy Morgan online survey conducted in conjunction with the Islamic Society of South Australia with a cross-section of 1,006 Australians aged 18+ from Thursday November 16 – Monday November 20, 2023.

This compares to 19% who say the Australian Government ‘should do more to support Palestine’ and 17% who say the ‘Australian Government should do more to support Israel’ and 15% of respondents don’t know.

Key findings of the survey are:

• Nearly two-fifths (39%) of Australians say the Australian Government is ‘favouring the Israelis’ compared to only 10% who say the Australian Government is ‘favouring the Palestinians’;
• A large majority of 80% of Australians say Hamas should return the Israeli hostages unconditionally;
• A clear majority (57%) of Australians say the Australian Government should increase pressure on Israel to allow for immediate humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza;
• Two-fifths (40%) of Australians say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately while 33% say they should not and 27% don’t know;
• If the 27% of Australians saying ‘don’t know’ to this question are excluded, a majority of 55% of the remainder say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately – up 4% from a special Roy Morgan SMS Poll conducted in early November, compared to 45% (down 4%) that say the Israeli army should not.

Australians surveyed were asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements relating to the current crisis in Israel and Gaza:

• ‘All human lives – Israeli & Palestinian – are of equal value’ – 92% agree cf. 3% disagree;
• ‘I am concerned about the number of civilian casualties in Gaza’ – 85% agree cf. 8% disagree;
• ‘The Australian Government should call for an immediate ceasefire’ – 56% agree cf. 25% disagree;
• ‘The Australian Government should call for a pause to allow humanitarian aid to safely reach civilians’
  – 75% agree cf. 14% disagree.

Australians surveyed were asked to approve or disapprove of a series of activities relating to the current crisis in Israel and Gaza:

• ‘People marching in solidarity with the Israeli people’ – 39% approve cf. 32% disapprove;
• ‘People marching in solidarity with the Palestinian people’ – 37% approve cf. 36% disapprove;
• ‘State & Local Governments illuminating public buildings in the colours of the Israeli Flag’
  – 62% disapprove cf. 16% approve;
• ‘State & Local Governments illuminating public buildings in the colours of the Palestinian Flag’
  – 65% disapprove cf. 13% approve.

Key demographic findings from the survey:

Australians were almost four times more likely to think that the Australian government is favouring Israel (39%) than Palestine (10%).

• Nearly half of Australian men (46%) say the government is favouring the Israelis compared to under a third of women (32%).
• Analysis by age shows Australians aged 25-34 (45%) were the most likely to say the government is favouring Israel (45%) ahead of people aged 50-64 (41%) and those aged 35-49 (39%).
• Only 3% of 18-24 year olds, 4% of 25-34 year olds and 8% of 35-49 year olds say the government is favouring the Palestinians.
• Young Australians aged 18-24 were the most likely to say they don’t know (41%) whether the government has taken a side.
• A majority of Greens voters (54%) say the government is favouring Israel compared to 40% of ALP voters and just over a third of Liberal-National Coalition voters (36%).
• Over a fifth of Coalition voters (22%) say the government is favouring the Palestinians compared to 4% of Greens voters and only 1% of ALP voters.

Almost half (49%) of Australians think the Australian government should not take sides in the conflict, while the proportions thinking the government should do more to support Israel (17%) or Palestine (19%) are near equal.

• 19% of Australians believe the government should do more to support Palestine, while 17% believe the government should do more to support Israel and 15% didn’t know.
• Men (23%) were more likely to say the government should do more to support Israel compared to women (13%). In contrast, more women (19%) than men (17%) say the government should do more to support the Palestine.
• Those aged 18-24 (34%) and 25-34 (33%) were much more likely to believe the government should do more to support Palestine than support Israel: 18-24 (9%) and 25-34 (10%).
• Older Australians took a different view with those aged 65+ (28%) much more likely to say the government should do more to support Israel than Palestine (9%).
• Greens voters were much more likely to say the government should do more to support Palestine (51%) than Israel (3%). In contrast, Liberal voters were much more likely to say the government should do more to support Israel (34%) than Palestine (7%).
• ALP voters were most likely to say the government shouldn’t take sides in this conflict (62%) but were still more likely to say more support should be given to Palestine (17%) than Israel (9%).

A plurality (40%) of Australians say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately compared to 33% who say they should not while 27% don’t know

• If those saying ‘don’t know’ are excluded 55% of the remainder say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately – up 4% from a special Roy Morgan SMS Poll conducted in early November, compared to 45% (down 4%) that say the Israeli army should not.
• Significantly more women (45%) than men (35%) say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately.
• Australians aged 25-34 (51%) are the most likely to say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately ahead of 44% of 18-24 year olds and 41% of 35-49 year olds.
• Nearly three-quarters of Greens voters (73%) and almost half of ALP voters (48%) say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately compared to only 23% of Coalition voters and 22% of One Nation voters.

A substantial majority (80%) of Australians believe Hamas should release the Israeli hostages unconditionally compared to only 5% who say they should not

• Significantly more men (85%), than women (74%), say that Hamas should return the Israeli hostages unconditionally.
• Although a majority of all age groups say Hamas should return the Israeli hostages unconditionally this question was heavily correlated to age. Older Australians were the most likely to call for the unconditional release of the hostages led by people aged 65+ (92%) and 50-64 year olds (88%).
• Support for the unconditional release of hostages was also lower among Greens voters (71%), and higher amongst Coalition (90%), One Nation (88%) and Independent (86%) voters.

A majority (56%) of Australians agree the Australian government should call for an immediate ceasefire.

• ALP (68%) and Greens (83%) voters were much more likely to support the government calling for an immediate ceasefire compared to Coalition voters (40%).
• Support for a ceasefire was particularly high in Victoria (60%), especially Melbourne (63%), while it was lowest in Western Australia (47%).
• Support for a ceasefire was higher for those aged 25-34 (63%), those who live in capital cities (58%) and those who have a university degree (65%).
• Support for the Australian government to call for ‘a pause to allow humanitarian aid to safely reach civilians’ (75%) was higher than support for the government to call for an immediate ceasefire (56%).

A majority of Australians (57%) believe the Australian government should increase pressure on Israel to allow for immediate humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza.

• Similar proportions of women (57%) and men (56%) say the government should increase pressure on Israel to allow for immediate humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza.
• Support for the proposition was similar across different age groups including 60% of 25-34 year olds, 59% of people aged 65+, 58% of those aged 50-64 and 57% of people aged 35-49.
• Support was higher among Labor (73%) and Greens (80%) voters than Coalition voters (45%).

A substantial majority of Australians agree that all human lives (Israeli and Palestinian) are of equal value (92%) and are concerned about the number of civilian casualties in Gaza (85%).

• Over nine-in-ten women (92%), men (92%), 35-49 year olds (92%), 50-64 year olds (96%) and people aged 65+ (95%) agree that all human lives are of equal value.
• There is near unanimous agreement that all human lives are of equal value among ALP voters (95%), Coalition voters (94%) and Greens voters (94%).
• Over eight-in-ten women (86%), men (82%) and people aged 25-34 (83%), 35-49 (85%), 50-64 (84%) and people aged 65+ (89%) are concerned about the number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
• ALP voters (92%) and Greens voters (91%) are the most concerned about the number of civilian casualties in Gaza compared to 85% of Independent voters and 79% of Coalition voters.

Approval of state and local governments illuminating public buildings in the colours of flags was low for both the Israeli flag (16%) and Palestinian flag (13%).

• Support for illuminating public buildings in the colours of the Israeli flag was particularly low in Melbourne (9%) while support for illuminating public buildings in the colours of the Palestinian flag was particularly low in Queensland (9%).

Just 39% of Australians approve of Australians marching in solidarity with the Israeli people, and 37% approve of marching in solidarity with the Palestinian people. In both cases, however, those approving outnumber those who disapprove. Many Australians said they didn’t know how they felt about this issue (29% for marching in solidarity with the Israelis; 27% for marching solidarity with the Palestinians).

Australians surveyed were each asked the following questions:

• Question 1: “Thinking about the Australian government’s response to the current crisis in Israel and Gaza. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?”
  The Australian Government is favouring the Israelis.
  The Australian Government is favouring the Palestinians.
  The Australians Government has not taken a side.
  Don’t know.
• Question 2: “Thinking about how the Australian government should respond to the crisis. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?”
  The Australian Government should do more to support Israel.
  The Australian Government should do more to support Palestine.
  The Australian Government should not take sides in this conflict.
  Don’t know.
• Question 3: “In your opinion should the Israeli army withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately or not?
  Yes.
  No, not.
  Don’t know.
• Question 4: “In your opinion should Hamas return the Israeli hostages unconditionally?”
  Yes.
  No.
  Don’t know.
• Question 5: “Following are some statements about the current crisis in Israel and Gaza. Thinking about each statement, and what you know about the current conflict. Please say if you agree or disagree with each of these statements?” (Agree, Disagree, Don’t know).
  All human lives – Israeli & Palestinian – are of equal value.
  I am concerned about the number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
  The Australian Government should call for an immediate ceasefire.
  The Australian Government should call for a pause to allow humanitarian aid to safely reach civilians.
• Question 6: “Do you approve or disapprove of the following activities?” (Approve, Disapprove, Don’t know)
  People marching in solidarity with the Israeli people.
  People marching in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
  State & Local Governments illuminating public buildings in the colours of the Israeli Flag.
  State & Local Governments illuminating public buildings in the colours of the Palestinian Flag.
• Question 7: “Should the Australian Government increase pressure on Israel to allow for immediate humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza?”
  Yes.
  No, not.
  Don’t know.
  

November 16-20, 2023: This special Roy Morgan online survey was conducted with an Australia-wide cross-section of 1,006 Australians aged 18+ from Thursday November 16 – Monday November 20, 2023.

Contact the Islamic Society of South Australia (ISSA) for further comments:
Phone: (08) 8374 2280
Email:   info@islamicsocietysa.org.au

For additional information on this survey contact Roy Morgan at (03) 9224 5309 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.

Download PDF for full survey on Israel & Palestine (November 2023).