Half of Britons agree Israel is committing a genocide

A new poll from YouGov has shown that half of Britons agree Israel is committing genocide in Gaza:

BREAKING | By a 33pt margin, Brits declare that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians.

It is a genocide: 50%
Not a genocide: 17%

Poll: YouGov, 2-3 July pic.twitter.com/6dZ2oun8nM

— Stats for Lefties (@LeftieStats) July 7, 2026

UK government out of step

The poll in question was conducted on behalf of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu). Caabu director Chris Doyle said in response to the data:

Whoever replaces Keir Starmer in No 10 should be aware that 67% of Labour voters in 2024 believe Israel is committing genocide. This strength of public opinion should be ignored no longer.

Starmer’s replacement will almost certainly be Andy Burnham. Burnham, however, has already proven to be incredibly soft on the issue, stating the following when asked if Israel’s actions constitute a genocide:

I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.

As we reported at the time:

When politicians refuse to commit to a position, it’s because they don’t want to be held to it later. Going off the actions of Labour, we have to assume Burnham doesn’t want to stand up to Israel because he knows his Labour colleagues won’t stand behind him. Going off his own actions, we have to assume he’s probably in agreement with them

Israel: no question of genocide

Caabu further said:

The question of whether Israel has been committing genocide has been an issue of huge contention not least since the International Court of Justice determined on 26 January 2024 that there were plausible grounds to believe Israel was committing genocide. This is one of the most serious violations of international law. In addition, many genocide experts and lawyers have reached a conclusion that Israel is committing genocide. A UN Commission of Inquiry found in September 2025 that Israel was committing genocide and further confirmed this in a report issued in June 2026.

As yet, the British government has denied that Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza. It does not even state that Israel has violated international law there, only that there is a risk that Israel is doing so.

Successive UK governments haven’t just refused to acknowledge the genocide; they’ve also supported Israel militarily and politically. They’ve done this despite how unpopular it is with their own voters (ignoring the moral issues). This demonstrates how ideological our current and former governments are. Because even in the face of becoming unelectable, they’ve continued to support a genocidal foreign power.

Why is this happening?

As we’ve reported in the past:

There are obvious reasons why the British establishment has sought to defend Israel at the expense of its own citizens:

• The UK profits from Israel’s actions through arms deals and partnerships.
• Israel is a key ally of America, and the UK is America’s foremost lapdog.
• The Israel lobby has proven to be very effective at influencing British politicians – particularly through the ‘Labour Friends of Israel‘ and ‘Conservative Friends of Israel‘ groups.
• Once enough people within the establishment hold an opinion, mirroring that opinion becomes the price of entry.

The “chasm”

Providing further detail on the new polling, Caabu explained:

Other findings in the Caabu poll conducted on 2 and 3 July 2026 showed that just under half of those polled (48%) supported a settlement trade ban. 55% believed that the UK should no longer consider Israel as an ally, whilst just 15% believed the UK should be an ally of Israel.

The poll showed that amongst those who voted Labour in 2024, the figures were much higher – 62% supported a settlement trade ban, and 72% supported a suspension of arms sales to Israel (there is currently a partial suspension).

So once more, we’re seeing clear evidence that Labour is sacrificing its own electability to protect Israel’s reputation. We’re not talking about a negligible dip here, either; just look at what’s happened to Labour’s polling since the 2024 election (source: Politico Poll of Polls):

Support for Israel doesn’t explain all of this, but it’s demonstrably a factor:

BREAKING: New polling shows that Labour’s policy on Gaza is a significant factor in progressive voters ditching the party in huge numbers pic.twitter.com/9ftj4Y1QWQ

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

Joseph Willits (Caabu Head of Parliamentary Affairs) said:

An immediate and complete settlement trade ban is the bare minimum requirement expected of a new administration, one demanded by UK Parliamentarians and the public alike.

It’s time to send a strong signal to Israel and its supporters that these illegal settlements have to end, and also that the perpetrators of genocide are undeserving of allyship.

The public know this and have consistently demanded consequences. It’s time the UK government did too.

Israel – Labour alliance

As tarnished as Labour is by all this, it’s never too late to turn back. Andy Burnham taking over from Keir Starmer is the perfect opportunity to abandon Israel and its hated genocide. The signs on that front, however, are not good:

Burnham appointing James Purnell suggests he has no intention of departing from Starmer’s push to authoritarianism to protect Israel

By @skwawkbox https://t.co/JyqWE0ZDCg

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) June 24, 2026

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore