Netanyahu's Gaza war: Majority of the Dutch do not side

*) "Israel" has been changed into "Israelis," but quotations have been left unchanged and are solely those of the interviewed persons as they may not reflect the chronology of history.

Survey: majority of Dutch people do not take side in Israelis-Palestinians "conflict"

According to what we call a "targeted survey" among a group of voters by the research firm Ipsos, the Dutch appear not to be outspoken when it comes to whom to side.

A majority of the respondents do not take sides. About a quarter of respondents believe that the Netherlands should not take a side; another thirty percent don't know.

The day after the attack by Hamas, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the Netherlands supports the Israelis.

“It is more nuanced among voters,” Ipsos researcher Sjoerd van Heck says. "Many people are reluctant and find it a complex situation.

For example, in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, we see that the Dutch struggle less with it: they support Ukraine en masse."

Among those who do choose a side, there is a clear preference for the Israelis. More than 30 percent of respondents believe that the Netherlands should support them, often under conditions.

Support for Israelis is slightly higher among voters of the liberal party, the People's Party For Freedom & Democracy (VVD), and the religious party Christian Union.

However, voters from the rightist Party for Freedom (PVV) support the Israelis unconditionally for the reason that the party is anti-Islam.

Sympathy for the Palestinians is considerably lower: just over 8 percent of respondents believe that the Netherlands should also support the Palestinians under certain conditions.

The results are no surprise, says Peter Malcontent, lecturer-researcher in International and Political History at Utrecht University and author of a book about the Dutch attitude towards the conflict.

 "The figures confirm a trend that has been visible since the late 1970s: the traditionally strong sympathy for the Israelis is declining, but that doesn't automatically lead to more support for the Palestinian cause."

Still, Malcontent finds support for the Palestinians "exceptionally low." "That may have something to do with the timing of the survey, a week after Hamas'  'atrocities'."

Dutch society and politics have traditionally been pro-Israelis, says Malcontent. "Israel was founded by (East) European Jews. The Dutch had more to do with that culturally and emotionally than with Arabs."

During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war - in which the Israelis occupied Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian territory, including areas where Palestinians lived - two-thirds of the Dutch supported the country. In the years that followed, sympathy decreased, partly because people became aware of the violence the Israelis are using against the Palestinians, says Malcontent.

Labor migration from Islamic countries to the Netherlands also played a role.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations, such as the one on October 15, 2023, are now of a larger scale than before, Malcontent sees. However, a large group of Dutch people find it difficult to have an opinion about the "conflict". This is partly due to a lack of knowledge, the Middle East expert suspects.

Last year, a survey by research agency I&O Research showed that only 16 percent said they knew a lot about the "conflict". Two-thirds know 'a little', 17 percent say they don't know anything.

The interest in the conflict is considerable. About 28 percent follow the news about it intensively, 52 percent a little. Only 15 percent do not follow it at all, according to the Ipsos poll.