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HomeRead, Watch, ListenAustralia
Israel Hamas WarNewsAustralia

Widespread ignorance and uncertainty over October 7: Crossroads25 survey

Less than half of respondents believed reports of Hamas attacks were “broadly true”, with levels of denial higher among younger Australians.
Michael Visontay
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00 Introduction The Crossroads25 survey (3)

Published: 30 October 2025

Last updated: 30 October 2025

Many Australians are unsure about the October 7 massacre, so do not understand why Israel fought the war in Gaza.

TJI's Crossroads25 survey found that less than half of a representative sample of Australians believed it was “broadly true” that “Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis in the attacks on October 7, 2023”.

The responses to the statement reflected a high level of caution about the statement: 48% agreed it was “broadly true”, 5% said “broadly untrue”, 3% answered “prefer not to say”, and 44% were “not sure”.

The Jewish Independent

Crossroads25, commissioned by The Jewish Independent, provides methodologically sound data on Australian attitudes to Jews, Israel and antisemitism, including longitudinal comparison with the Crossroads21 survey. The survey was designed by Emeritus Professor Andrew Markus and conducted during August by the polling company YouGov across a sample size of 2270 Australians.

Significant ignorance among under-30s

While only 5% of the overall sample denied the truth of the massacre, the proportion who gave this response was substantially higher within specific cohorts, in particular younger age groups and Greens voters, said Professor Markus.

The survey found 13% of those aged 18-24, and 12% of the Gen Z age group (up to age 28 in 2025) said the statement about October 7 was broadly untrue, as did 13% of current university students, a group which overlaps with the other younger age groups; 9% of Greens voters also gave the same response.

“The lack of understanding was very significant,” said Professor Markus.

The Jewish Independent

Belief in, denial of, or uncertainty over the reports of October 7 correlated with other beliefs about the conflict, including whether Israel is responsible for the violence in Gaza and whether it has the right to defend itself.

Among those who viewed the report of October 7 as “broadly true”, 80% agreed with Israel’s right to defend itself; among those who were unsure of the reports, 47% agreed with Israel’s right of defence; and among those who viewed the account as “broadly untrue”, only 31% agreed with the right of defence.

There was a similar pattern when asked whether “Israelis are more responsible than the Palestinians for the past three years of violence in the West Bank and Gaza”. Of those who said the reports of October 7 were “broadly true”, 25% agreed with the statement. Of those who said the reports were “broadly untrue”, 72% held Israelis more responsible than Palestinians.

Reluctance to take sides

Australians are more likely to feel equally sympathetic to Palestinians and Israelis or to not know where they stand, than to pick a side.

Asked where their sympathies lie, 38% said equally with Israelis and Palestinians and 21% said they didn’t know. Only 20% nominated Palestinians and only 16% nominated Israelis.

The Jewish Independent

Disbelief in Oct 7 correlates with seeing Israelis as 'like Nazis'

The statement that elicited the most negative response about Israel was the provocative proposition that “Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews”.

Across the total sample  33% agreed with the proposition, which Australia's official definition of antisemitism, the IHRA definition, defines as antisemitic.

A very significant 75% of those who think the October 7 reports are “broadly untrue” also think Israel treats Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews. This agreement drops to 34% of those who accept the October 7 reports as “broadly true”, and 30% of the “not sure” group.

Don’t know, don’t care

While Jewish Australians are deeply concerned about what is happening in Israel, many Australians are apathetic or ambivalent about the conflict.

Crossroads25 found that nearly half the population sampled are not engaged with the Middle East and lack of knowledge of the conflict: only 22% said they were “very interested”, 27% “somewhat interested”, while 45% of Australians were not at all interested (21%), or only a little interested (24%), in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There was a high level of ignorance and uncertainty about Israel and many respondents were unwilling to take sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In response to the statement that “Israel is an apartheid state”, 62% were uncertain, and to the statement that “Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East”, 60% were uncertain.

For the statement that “Israelis are more responsible than the Palestinians are for the past three years of violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza”, 51% were uncertain.

The Jewish Independent

Professor Markus said the high levels of uncertainty in the survey were both unusual and significant.

“Attention to the proportion indicating "don’t know” provides important information about the extent of uncertainty or lack of knowledge sufficient to form an opinion; it may also indicate disengagement. 

“The "neither agree nor disagree" response can signal a middle or neutral position: the respondent may be genuinely ambivalent, seeing merit on both sides, or more simply may indicate confusion or indecision.

“Without attention to these responses the balance of opinion in a society may be misrepresented and opinion made to appear more definite than it is, creating a sense of certainty which is a misrepresentation.”

READ MORE

Australian attitudes to Jews and Israel

Crossroads25: FULL REPORTS

Next week: How young people, political parties and gender segments responded

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About the author

Michael Visontay

Michael Visontay

Michael Visontay is Commissioning Editor of TJI and was Editor-in-Chief from 2017-22. Michael is a former Assistant Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and columnist with The Australian Jewish News. He has written six books, including Who Gave You Permission? with Manny Waks, and Welcome to Wanderland: Western Sydney Wanderers and the Pride of the West. His most recent book is Noble Fragments: the Maverick who broke up the world's greatest book (Scribe, 2024).

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Comments2

  • Avatar of eon

    eon30 December at 05:23 am

    The conflating of ‘antisemitism’ with ‘criticising Israeli Government’ isth most problematic issue; &i say this as a 55yr-old. Imho that’s a step towards authoritarian nationalism; exactly inth way many Liberal Democracies are being undermined at present. SECULAR HUMANISM isth best political system in a global reality – returning to Bronze Age Mythologies is idiotic allso. Any ‘traditional society’ cannot comprehend our Science/Medicine/Technology/Realities
    ….just accept that ANY ‘reactionary theocratic nationalism’ is defunct inth 21CE.

  • Avatar of Dennis Altman

    Dennis Altman30 October at 06:56 am

    This survey itself is problematic, especially the reference to Israel as the only democratic country in the ME. Given Israel’s de facto control of six million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, who do not enjoy equal rights, the claim is spurious