78% of Britons view ‘Israel’ as serious threat to world peace, survey finds

Nearly four in five Britons regard ‘Israel’ as a serious threat to world peace, second only to Russia, according to the latest British Social Attitudes findings from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).

The spring 2026 NatCen Opinion Panel survey of 1,973 prior British Social Attitudes respondents found that 78% viewed Israel as a “very” or “quite serious” threat to world peace over the next ten years or so.

Russia topped the list at 89%, followed by ‘Israel’ at 78%, Iran at 75%, the United States at 74%, North Korea at 66%, China at 62%.

The figure for ‘Israel’ marks a sharp rise from 48% in 2005 and an increase of about 10 percentage points from readings of around two-thirds in 2025.

The report, titled “A More Dangerous World: British Attitudes to Security, Defence and International Alliances” and authored by Sophia Gaston of King’s College London, links the shift to recent Middle East developments.

“Israel’s reputation, too, has seemingly suffered from its involvement in recent Middle East conflict,” the report states.

It notes that the share viewing ‘Israel’ as a serious threat reached 73% by autumn 2024, after Gaza had suffered “heavy damage” in the wake of ‘Israel’s’ assault on Gaza, dipped somewhat in 2025, and then rose to 78% in the spring 2026 survey following the Iran bombing campaign.

Perceptions of the United States also shifted dramatically.

The share regarding the US as a serious threat more than doubled from 35–36% in 2024 to 74% in spring 2026, placing it close to ‘Israel’ and Iran.

Gaston observed that “it is certainly striking that three-quarters of the British public currently view our closest strategic partner, the United States, as a threat to global peace,” attributing this in part to concern about Washington’s foreign policy choices and their wider consequences.

Majorities across political groups saw ‘Israel’ as a serious threat, though levels varied: 88% among Green supporters, 84% among Labour supporters, 79% among Liberal Democrats, 70% among Conservatives, and 62% among Reform UK supporters.

Younger respondents tended to view both ‘Israel’ and the United States as greater threats than older ones did.

Overall, the average respondent now regarded about 4.8 of the seven countries as serious threats, up from earlier readings.

The findings form part of a broader picture of heightened threat perception.

Support for increased defence spending reached a record 56%, the first time a majority has favoured higher spending in the survey series, while preference for closer ties with Western Europe also rose.

NatCen published the results in early November 2026 as part of its long-running British Social Attitudes programme.