The UK government’s tough rhetoric on Russia seems to have rubbed off on the general population, with a new poll showing that the British public view Russia more negatively than any other country in the world.

LONDON, February 2 (Sputnik) — The poll, undertaken by UK-based think tank Chatham House and YouGov, asked 2,000 members of the general public which countries they felt particularly favourable and unfavourable towards, from two separate lists of European and non-European countries.

Old Friends, Old Enemies

Many of the UK’s former colonies and traditional allies once again ranked highly among those nations considered to be friendly, with Australia, Canada and the US topping the ‘most favourable’ list.

Meanwhile in Europe, northern European countries such as The Netherlands, Sweden and Norway were considered the most popular.

However, 56 percent of those surveyed said they felt especially unfavourable feelings towards Russia, with negative sentiment almost doubling from 30 percent since the last poll in 2012.

© Photo : The Chatham House/YouGov Survey General public attitudes in the UK towards other countries

The sharp increase in public sentiment against Russia has been attributed to the increased diplomatic tensions between Russia and the West.

Analysis of the figures states that Crimea’s decision to join Russia, the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s alleged indirect involvement in the downing of the passenger plane MH17 have contributed to the negative results.

David Cameron’s government has accused Russia of interfering with Ukraine’s internal affairs throughout the ongoing conflict, while Russia has also been accused of supporting eastern Ukrainian rebel groups, who are alleged to have shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight that crashed in Ukraine’s Donetsk region in July, killing all 298 passengers on board.

Despite the allegations, Moscow has consistently denied the claims.

A Threat to Security

On top of the unfavourable opinions from UK citizens, the poll also states that two-thirds of Britons think that Russia is a threat to the EU’s security, with one in five labelling the country a “very big threat.”

James Nixey, head of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia programme, notes that the British public has never felt “especially favourably towards Russia,” but says that “the last decade has also seen a number of damaging incidents specific to UK-Russian relations.”

It also notes that the perception of Russia as a threat to security has once again increased support for NATO within the UK.

Despite the West supporting the Euromaidan protests, Ukraine seems to have done little for its own reputation, with the country coming in second as the European country with the least favourable sentiment.

Meanwhile, among non-European countries, North Korea retains its spot as the least favourite in the UK.

© Photo : The Chatham House/YouGov Survey General public attitudes in the UK towards other countries

Backlash against Israel

Perhaps surprising was the significant shift in public sentiment against Israel, with the country recording the third most unfavorable mentions, behind Russia and North Korea, and ahead of traditional enemy Iran.

Unfavourable mentions against Israel — which has traditionally been an ally of the UK — more than doubled since 2012, with last year’s conflict in Gaza seen to be the reason behind the shift in public sentiment, as the survey was undertaken in the summer of 2014 during which time Israeli forces continued their bombing of Gaza.

The 50 day offensive, which claimed the lives of more than 2,100 Palestinians, including many civilians and children, drew widespread public condemnation in the UK, resulting in a series of protests across the country.

This shift in public thought was also demonstrated politically, with the British parliament voting in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, with many analysts interpreting this as backlash against Israel’s actions toward Palestinians.

Kamel Hawwash, vice-chair of the UK-based Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, told Sputnik that the parliament’s decision to recognise Palestine as a state was a reflection of the significant shift in public sentiment away from Israel.

"If you talked to people who were involved in campaigning for Palestine 25-30 years ago, they'd tell you that you couldn't fill a small room with campaigners, whereas in the summer we saw over 100,000 people marching in the streets of London and many other cities in the UK, and of course internationally."

The surveys, published in the Chatham House report 'Internationalism or Isolationism?' aim to gain an understanding of the British public’s attitude towards various UK foreign policy issues.