Support for Israel is declining rapidly among Swedish voters, even in parties that have long pursued a strongly pro-Israeli line.
A new survey shows clear losses among moderates, Christian democrats and liberals. The only exception is the Sweden Democrats – where support for Israel remains as strong as before.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, the proportion of those negative towards Israel’s actions has increased markedly. Today, 60 percent of all respondents are negative – an increase from around 50 percent in November 2023. Among the red-green parties (Sweden’s center-left coalition), the figure has risen from just over 70 percent to around 85 percent. For the Tidö parties (Sweden’s center-right governing coalition), the proportion of negatives has increased from just over 20 percent to just over 35 percent.
Only just over 20 percent of all respondents now view Israel’s actions positively. The Sweden Democrats stand out as the party where the proportion of positives has not decreased since the last measurement. They are now at the same level as the Christian Democrats – around 50 percent.
The Christian Democrats, like the Moderates and Liberals, have however seen a clear decrease in support. Among Liberal voters, support for Israel has decreased from 70 to around 20 percent since October 2023.
— A year ago, more Moderate voters were positive than negative towards Israel’s actions, but that’s certainly not the case now. And for the Liberals, it’s a very strong reaction that came a bit earlier, says Johan Martinsson, opinion chief at Demoskop, to Schibsted-owned Svenska Dagbladet.
“Harder to defend”
According to the Palestinian health authority, over 60,000 Palestinians have so far been killed in the Israeli invasion that is increasingly being described by many voices as genocide. Every day, images spread from the mass starvation in Gaza. Around a hundred children have died from hunger and malnutrition, and there are recurring reports of Palestinians being shot dead by Israeli military at food distributions and aid stations.
Support for Israel has also decreased within the opposition, although starting levels were already low. The conflict continues to be one of the most charged and divisive foreign policy issues, but according to Johan Martinsson, voters within the Tidö parties are also increasingly finding it difficult to defend Israel’s warfare.
— Voters on the right have had clearly higher support for Israel’s actions since the start, but the longer the conflict continues, the harder it has become to defend Israel’s line even for them.
Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats most positive
The measurement shows that Christian Democrat voters are still among the most positive towards Israel’s actions, but support has decreased somewhat. Now they share first place with Sweden Democrat voters – the only group where the proportion of positives has not fallen.
— What stands out is that they have maintained their position. I think a much more critical view of the entire Palestinian movement lies behind this, assesses Johan Martinsson.
Support for terror-classified Hamas is, however, virtually non-existent among all Swedish parties’ voters. An exception is Left Party voters, where five percent are positive – the same level as for actors like Hizbollah and Iran.
The survey was conducted by Demoskop for SvD via 1,236 web interviews with people aged 18–79, between August 1 and 7, 2025.
