Vast majority of Brits want full arms embargo on Israel: Poll

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters hold placards outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London on May 13, 2025. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 03 June 2025
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Vast majority of Brits want full arms embargo on Israel: Poll

  • Just 16% oppose expelling the country from the UN
  • Palestine Solidarity Campaign: Survey ‘speaks to Israel’s growing isolation and the significant public support for sanctions’

LONDON: Around 80 percent of the British public support a full arms embargo on Israel, and just 16 percent oppose expelling the country from the UN, according to a poll conducted by Opinium.

Around three-quarters of respondents want public sector pensions to disengage from investments linked to Israel.

The findings come in the aftermath of Co-op members voting at their annual general meeting last week for the supermarket to stop selling Israeli products. Two-thirds of those surveyed by Opinium back similar boycotts by other UK supermarkets.

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said in a statement: “The polling … speaks to Israel’s growing isolation and the significant public support for sanctions.

“By continuing to arm and support Israel even as it enacts a genocide and a policy of forced starvation, the British government is holding on to an increasingly fringe position, completely out of sync with public opinion, and with the views of those who supported it at the last election.”

On Wednesday, thousands of activists are set to form a kilometer-long cordon around the Houses of Parliament in London, linked by a stretch of red fabric, to call for an end to UK military aid to Israel and the imposition of sanctions on the country.

Jamal said: “Those bringing the demand for an arms embargo to Parliament … in a symbolic red line are doing so knowing that the demand is supported by the majority of their fellow citizens.”

The PSC said in a press release: “For nearly 3 months Israel imposed a total blockade preventing all humanitarian assistance, resulting in deaths by starvation, widespread malnutrition and hunger amongst 2.3 million people.

“Israel has now imposed a severely limited and militarised aid operation, condemned by international aid organisations, that has resulted in scores of Palestinians being shot dead as they search for food.”


Iraq PM candidate Al-Maliki meets senior US diplomat

Updated 5 sec ago
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Iraq PM candidate Al-Maliki meets senior US diplomat

  • Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Al-Maliki — a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran — was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country

BAGHDAD: The leading candidate to become Iraq’s next prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, met with US diplomat Tom Barrack on Friday after refusing to withdraw his nomination despite the US threatening to stop supporting the country if he returns to the post.
Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkiye, has recently visited Iraq multiple times to meet with senior officials.
Maliki’s media office said in a short statement that the PM candidate stressed during the meeting “the need to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and the will of its people.”
He also spoke of the “importance of supporting the democratic process and strengthening political stability” in Iraq.
It wasn’t clear what message Barrack conveyed to Maliki.
Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Al-Maliki — a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran — was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country.
Trump’s threat left Iraqi leaders at a loss, particularly within the Coordination Framework — a ruling alliance of Shiite groups with varying degrees of links to Iran that nominated Maliki.
Earlier this week, Al-Maliki told AFP he would not withdraw his nomination, while also seeking to allay Washington’s concerns.
“I have absolutely no intention of withdrawing out of respect for my country, its sovereignty, and its will,” Al-Maliki told AFP in an interview.