3 years after Oct 7 invasion, Israelis feel more Middle Eastern than European, new survey finds

Jewish Israelis increasingly identify more strongly with Israel and view their country as more Middle Eastern than European, while growing numbers are pessimistic about the future of Jewish life in Europe, according to a new Hebrew University survey released on Monday.

The 2026 Hebrew University-European Forum (HU-EF) Barometer examined how Israelis view their identity and relationship with Europe three years after the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. The survey found that the attacks and subsequent wars have coincided with significant shifts in Israelis’ sense of identity and their perceptions of Europe.

Hebrew University professor Gisela Dachs led the survey, which was based on online responses collected in cooperation with the market research company Kantar in Israel and selected European countries.

“The Barometer captures a moment of profound reassessment,” Dachs said in an official statement. “Three years after October 7, Israelis are not only rethinking questions of security and identity but also their relationship to Europe and the political forces shaping it.”

Almost half (48%) of Israeli Jews said their sense of Israeli identity had become stronger following three years of war with Iran and its terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. Only 10% said their Israeli identity had become weaker.

Among Arab Israelis, however, the trend was different. Thirty-seven percent said their Israeli identity had weakened since the Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent war in Gaza, while 18% said it had become stronger. Dozens of Arab Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed during the Hamas-led attack.

The survey also found a growing sense of distance between Israelis and Europe, particularly over perceptions of where Jews are safest.

About 71% of Israelis said it is safer for Jews to live in Israel than in European countries. In contrast, only 27% of Germans, 24% of British respondents, 25% of French respondents and 35% of Polish respondents shared that assessment.

The findings come as Israelis and many Diaspora Jews have expressed growing concern about rising antisemitism in Europe and other Western countries following the Oct. 7 attack.

The survey also pointed to a shift in how Israelis view their country’s cultural identity.

Modern Israel has been a complex cultural fusion of East and West since it was established in 1948. While many Israelis with Ashkenazi European roots retain strong ties to Europe, at least 50% of Jewish Israelis are Mizrahi Jews with family roots in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the new survey, 42% of Jewish Israeli respondents said they consider Israel more of a Middle Eastern country, compared with just 18% who said Israel is more European than Middle Eastern. Among Arab Israelis, 50% agreed that Israel is more Middle Eastern than European in its national culture – reportedly three times the figure recorded in 2022.

Despite these changing perceptions, many Israelis continue to vacation in Europe and maintain personal and cultural ties with European Union countries, which have long been viewed as comparable to Israel in terms of economic and technological development.

However, Israeli attitudes toward the European Union as a political project have deteriorated sharply. Only 27% of Israeli respondents agreed that “the EU is, in general, a success,” compared with 57% who held a positive view of the EU in 2022, before the Oct. 7 attack.

The survey also found growing pessimism about the future of Jewish life in Europe. Sixty-nine percent of Israelis believe conditions for European Jews will worsen, up from 53% in 2022. Older Israelis expressed the highest levels of pessimism.

European countries also received sharply different assessments from Israeli respondents.

Germany was viewed as the most pro-Israel European country by 43% of Israelis, followed by Hungary at 37% and Poland at 21%. France and Spain were each viewed as the most anti-Israel European countries by 54% of respondents, followed by the United Kingdom at 29%.