56% of Israelis concerned about traveling abroad due to anti-Israel climate – poll

More than half of the Israeli public (56%) have expressed concern – some even fear – about international travel due to rising levels of anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment, according to a new poll released last Friday by Israel’s Channel 12 News.

The pessimistic outlook appears to be tied to the perceived diplomatic isolation of Israel amid the increasingly unpopular war against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. However, the poll also found that 40% of Israelis are not concerned about traveling abroad, despite rising hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people. An additional 4% of respondents said they had no opinion on the matter.

The new poll further revealed that 67% of Israelis no longer feel represented by the current government in Jerusalem. Moreover, 62% expressed support for a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage-release deal that would secure the freedom of the remaining 50 hostages, including 20 believed to still be alive.

The survey results indicated widespread dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli senior officials. Some 55% of the respondents reportedly rated Netanyahu’s performance as “poor” while only 39% responded that they are satisfied the prime minister’s performance. Additionally, 53% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Defense Minister Israel Katz, while 57% voiced disapproval of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The poll did not disclose its sample size or margin of error.

The poll was released after a growing number of recent anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incidents around the world. In June, anti-Israel activists in the Italian city of Milan displayed posters reading “Israeli not welcome.”

Last month, anti-Israel activists on the Greek island of Syros threatened Israeli tourists on a cruise ship.

Just a few days later, a Syrian migrant violently attacked an Israeli tourist on a beach in the Greek capital, Athens, biting off a piece of the Israeli’s ear.

In late July, approximately 50 Jewish French teenagers were removed from a Spanish Vueling flight traveling from Valencia to Paris, in a controversial incident that the teens and several critics described as antisemitic. French authorities have since called for an investigation to determine whether antisemitism played a role in the decision.

France's Foreign Ministry revealed that the Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot contacted Vueling Airline CEO Carolina Martinoli to express his “deep concern” about the incident. Barrot reportedly also asked the airline and Spanish authorities to probe “whether the minors were discriminated against because of their religion,” in other words due to their Jewish identity.