Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization have agreed to a temporary fragile ceasefire in Gaza together with a prisoner exchange. This has began on 19th January 2025, but since then both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the terms of the ceasefire. In this context, we offer a year-on-year comparison of the attitudes of the Czech population towards the conflict in the Middle East.
The Czech public’s assessment of the long-term level of Czech support for Israel was mixed. In November 2023, just one month after the Hamas attack in October, 39% of respondents, approximately two out of five, described the level of long-term support for Israel by the Czech Republic as correct and more than one-fifth of respondents (22%) said this support was too much. However, a relatively large number of respondents were unable to take a position on this topic (35%), suggesting that events unfolding in the Middle East do not arouse a high level of interest among the Czech population compared to other foreign affairs.
In a another survey in December 2024, more than a year later, the responses of Czech men and women were not fundamentally different. There was a slight decrease in those who describe the level of Czech support for Israel as correct (37%). On the other hand, avoidance of answering this question was more frequent (37%). Thus, interest in this topic is slowly declining among the Czech population.
The level of support for Israel in the long term is considered to be correct, especially by men (48%) and people aged 25-34 (42%). It is considered to be too much by people aged 45-54 (27%). Women (51%) and people with a secondary education without a high school diploma (43%) are particularly divided on this issue.
Will the current ceasefire turn into a lasting peace? And can peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine even work in the long term? In November 2023 – despite the, then recent, Hamas attack – almost half of respondents answered that such coexistence is possible (46%). Almost a third already then ruled out the possibility of peaceful coexistence (30%). Over time, Czechs have become more skeptical about the possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two countries. In last year’s December survey, only two out of five respondents (40%) could imagine the possibility of peaceful coexistence. A slightly higher number of people held the opposite opinion than a year ago (32%). A significant number of people remain undecided on this question as well (24% and 28% respectively).
Hope for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine is particularly held by the youngest respondents aged 16 to 24 (47%) and university graduates (48%). Men (39%) and people aged 35 to 44 (38%) are the most pessimistic about coexistence between the two states.
The media have often asked whether the conflicts in the Middle East will affect the Czech population’s view of Jews living in the Czech Republic. We therefore asked a representative sample of our population whether this might have such an effect. In November 2023, more than a third of the respondents (35%) answered “yes” to this question. On the contrary, two out of five respondents (42%) did not see the impact of the conflict on Czech Jews. In December 2024, slightly fewer respondents perceived the potential impact of the conflict in Palestine on Czech Jews. 33% said that it had an impact on the perception of Jews in the Czech Republic, while 45% said it did not.
The impact on the perception of the Czech Jewish community is more often attributed to the conflict in the Middle East by men (39%) and the youngest respondents aged 16-24 (36%). Respondents in the 35 to 44 age group (53%) and those with a high school diploma (47%) largely hold the opposite view.
