A new opinion poll shows that 47% of Britons now want fewer migrants from Israel to come to the UK, or want migration from Israel to stop altogether. A YouGov survey shows that Britons
have a more negative view of immigration in 2026 than they did in 2016, when the figure stood at 39%.
This represents a notable increase in opposition to Israeli migration over the past decade, reflecting a broader shift towards more restrictive attitudes to immigration in 2026. Meanwhile, just 5% of respondents said the UK should accept more Israeli migrants, while 24% were satisfied with maintaining current levels.
YouGov attributes the change in attitudes towards Israeli migration largely to the recent conflict in Gaza, which has contributed to a deterioration in public opinion towards Israel.
Britons are most likely to say they want fewer migrants from Russia, or none at all (58%), followed by Pakistan (52%) and Nigeria (48%).
Russia was not at the bottom of the table in 2016. Over the past decade, the share of Britons wanting to reduce or completely stop migration from Russia has risen by 13 percentage points — the largest shift in that direction among all countries. This is undoubtedly linked to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In general, public opinion is more favourable towards migration from developed Western countries, particularly English-speaking nations.
Almost seven in ten Britons believe the UK should allow either more migrants or roughly the same number from Ireland (69%), Canada (68%) and Australia (68%). Most of the remainder say they do not know (20-21%), while only 11-12% want migration from these countries reduced.
Similarly, migrants from countries including Sweden (64%), Germany (62%), Japan (58%), the United States (55%) and Poland (53%) are broadly welcomed.
The public is also slightly more likely to support increasing or maintaining current levels of migration from Brazil, Thailand, Argentina and South Africa than reducing them. Opinion is roughly evenly divided when it comes to Mexico and China.
Britons say the most important factors that should be considered when deciding whether to admit an economic migrant are having a criminal record, possessing skills in areas facing labour shortages and speaking English. Photo by Krokodyl, Wikimedia commons.
