Most Russians neutral on Israel-Palestine conflict – poll

More than 70% of people surveyed said they don’t favor either side

The majority of Russians do not back any particular side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an opinion poll published on Tuesday shows. 

According to the survey of 1,500 people conducted between October 13 and October 15 by the Moscow-based pollster FOM, 73% of respondents said that their personal sympathy lies with neither side, while 10% said they support the Palestinians, and 9% said they favor Israel.

Nearly 40%, however, could not answer what they believe is the root cause of the ongoing escalation of hostilities in the region.

Roughly an equal number of those polled blamed Israel (5%) and the Palestinian militant group Hamas (3%), while 12% argued that the West was responsible for the bloodshed, and 10% described the crisis as “a territorial conflict.” 

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The survey also found that the majority (65%) have either not been paying much attention to the conflict or have not been following it at all. 

The Russian government has condemned the October 7 Hamas attack, which left some 1,400 Israelis dead and prompted the IDF to launch retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza. Moscow also accused Israel of indiscriminately killing Palestinian civilians and has called for an immediate ceasefire. More than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to Gazan officials.