Pro-Palestinian protest march in London recently<\/p>\n
A majority of British <\/a>people support a full arms embargo on Israel<\/a>, according to a new poll commissioned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.<\/p>\n The poll, conducted by Opinium Research between 30 May and 2 June, found that 57 percent of people think the UK should impose a full arms embargo, with only 13 percent opposed.<\/p>\n The poll also found 53 percent of people think Israel should be expelled from the United Nations, while 50 percent said Israeli products in supermarkets should be boycotted.<\/p>\n Fifty-four percent backed sanctioning far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has been a staunch supporter<\/a> of Israel\u2019s total blockade of the Gaza Strip that has left over 93 percent of the population suffering from acute\u00a0food insecurity<\/a>.<\/p>\n Increasing numbers of public figures in the UK are speaking out against Israel\u2019s war on Gaza,\u00a0which has killed at least\u00a054,607 Palestinians and wounded 125,341 since 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n Last week, more than 300 artists signed <\/a>an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for an end to British arms sales to Israel.<\/p>\n The new poll comes after a similar survey showed public support for Israel<\/a> in European countries had fallen to its lowest recorded level.<\/p>\n According to a survey<\/a> by YouGov last month, fewer than a fifth of respondents in six countries held a favourable view of Israel.<\/p>\n The poll was conducted between 12 and 26 May in Britain<\/a>, France<\/a>, Germany<\/a>, Denmark, Spain and Italy.<\/p>\n Middle East Eye revealed <\/a>on Tuesday that the US has been pressuring the UK not to back a French proposal to recognise a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n France is reportedly<\/a> gearing up to unilaterally recognise Palestine at an upcoming UN conference. MEE understands that France has been lobbying Britain to do so as well.<\/p>\n Prominent Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told MEE<\/a> this week that Macron\u2019s push to recognise Palestinian statehood \u201cis serious and has the backing of most of the European Union and Saudi Arabia\u201d.<\/p>\n French officials believe the British government is on board with the plan, according to French media.<\/p>\n