Israelis feel more Middle Eastern as views of Europe sour, study finds

Three years after the October 7 Hamas-led massacres in Israel, the 2026 Hebrew University-European Forum Barometer reveals a significant shift in how Israelis view themselves, their security, and their relationship with Europe. Jewish Israelis report a strengthened sense of Israeli identity, while many Israelis increasingly see the country as more Middle Eastern than European.

The 2026 survey, which was preceded by similar surveys by the group in 2022 and 2024 that showed less-extreme changes, was led by HU Prof. Gisela Dachs of the DAAD Center for German Studies and at the European Forum at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and examines mutual perceptions between Israel and four European countries – Germany, France, Great Britain, and Poland.

The findings indicate a strengthened sense of Israeli identity among Jewish Israelis, a widening perception gap between Israelis and Europeans on Jewish safety, and a growing Israeli tendency to view the country as more Middle Eastern than European.

The survey also discovered that Israelis overwhelmingly view Israel as safer for Jews than Europe, even as European respondents are far more divided. At the same time, Israelis express growing skepticism toward the European Union, continue to see Germany and Hungary as among Israel’s closest friends in Europe, and identify France and Spain as the countries they perceive as most antisemitic.

The new indicator reveals how profoundly Israelis are reassessing questions of identity, safety, and their relationship with Europe, Dachs told The Jerusalem Post in an interview.

Dachs holds a doctorate in communications from Tel Aviv University and is an expert on news media consumption and belonging among migrants. Having had a long career as a professional journalist, having worked exclusively for more than 20 years in Germany, and in Israel for the German weekly Die Zeit, she is also the author of several books about Israel and the Middle East.

Among Jewish Israelis, the events of the past three years, including the Israel-Hamas War, and the war with Iran, appear to have reinforced Israeli identity. By contrast, Arab Israeli respondents were more likely to say that their sense of Israeli identity had weakened.

The survey also finds a striking gap between Israelis and Europeans on the question of Jewish safety. A significant majority of Israelis said their country is safer for Jews than Europe, while European respondents were far more divided.

Poland stood out among the European countries surveyed, with the highest share of respondents (35%) viewing Israel as the safer option for Jews, she revealed. When asked if the situation of Jews in Europe will improve or decline, 69% of Israelis predicted that it would be worse.

Israelis feeling more distanced from Europe

At the same time, Israelis appear to be feeling greater distance from Europe; 42% of Israelis polled described Israel as more like a Middle Eastern country, compared with 18% who described it as more like a European country. Among Arab respondents, the share who see Israel as Middle Eastern has more than tripled compared with 2022.

Israeli views of the EU have also become more skeptical. Compared with 2024, more Israeli respondents disagreed with the statement that “the EU is, in general, a success,” with disagreement especially high among Jewish Israelis.

The Barometer also sheds light on Israeli attitudes toward Europe’s far right. As in 2024, a large share of Jewish Israeli respondents said Israel should maintain ties with far-right parties in Europe if those parties support Israel. In 2024, respondents viewed the rise of the AfD (a far-right, nationalist political party in Germany founded in 2013) as a dangerous development, with many saying it is no more dangerous than similar developments in other European countries.

In Israel, concern regarding the AfD had declined. While 55% of Israelis considered the AfD’s growing role dangerous in 2024, that figure fell to 47% in 2026. During the same period, the proportion of those who see no threat in the party rose from 7% to 15%, indicating a significantly more relaxed perception.

However, this shift stems almost entirely from the views of Arab Israelis. Among this group, the share of those who consider the AfD harmless rose from 16%to 28%, explaining their growing influence on the overall picture. Since they make up about 20% of Israel’s population, they significantly skew the overall result for this question downward, thereby influencing the statistical assessment of the perceived threat posed by the AfD, Dachs explained.

When asked which European countries they consider friends of Israel, Israeli respondents ranked Germany first (this has probably declined since the success of Afd in elections in recent weeks), followed by Hungary.

The Netherlands, by contrast, has fallen sharply in Israeli perceptions and is now among the countries seen as least friendly to Israel. Asked which countries they perceive as most antisemitic, Israeli respondents pointed most often to France and Spain.

The survey also revisits one of the Barometer’s long-running questions: whether today’s Germany is a “different Germany” compared with the period before 1945. Among Jewish Israelis, 67% said yes in 2026, down from 75% in 2024. Older Jewish respondents were more likely than younger respondents to hold this view. The team didn’t survey groups of Holocaust survivors or their descendants.

“The Barometer captures a moment of profound reassessment,” said Dachs. “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.”

The new study is based on online surveys conducted by Kantar, a global marketing data, analytics, and consulting company based in London. It operates in Israel as Kantar Insight Israel, alongside a benchmark survey conducted in Israel.

Each European country included a representative sample of 1,000 participants. The Israeli sample included 1,003 respondents: 502 from the general sector, 250 Arab respondents, and 251 Orthodox Jewish respondents. Fieldwork in the four European countries was conducted in June-July 2026 and fieldwork in Israel in May 2026. The questionnaire’s length was about eight minutes, and the sampling error was 3.1% per total market sample.

“The single most important change in Israeli perceptions of Europe since 2024 is that the EU is regarded by Israelis as a failure. In 2022, the majority saw it as a success, of coming together, opening borders, and having a common economy,” Dachs said.

“Jewish Israelis became more strongly Israeli; 62% said so, but this view declined among Arab Israelis due to the length of the war with Gaza and other factors we haven’t studied yet,” she added.

The researchers asked how Israelis view Europeans, and the most negative response was France. “We didn’t ask about Ireland or the Netherlands, which have become very anti-Israel in recent months.”

The team asked about a list of nine countries – Poland, Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Italy, and Hungary. “The first question asked which countries Israelis considered to be their country’s greatest friend– and it was Germany and Hungary. With the same list, we asked about the most antisemitic countries, and it was France and Spain.”

“The biggest change among Europeans was in Poland – The Gaza war induced 30% to be more pro-Palestinian compared to half that two years ago, and only 4% to be more pro-Israel. The Poles are the foremost believers that Israel has ‘conducted genocide against Palestinians.

“It was quite astonishing to find Poland at the forefront of the negative views. Compared to our last survey in 2024, the stance in Poland vis a vis Israel has significantly hardened.”

Polish respondents were asked if Israelis should continue to visit Poland for Holocaust memorial events, and the share of those who were against such trips increased, while Israelis’ views on this remained the same compared to before, Dach said.

“We asked how many have visited Israel or intend to visit: 67% of Germans said they don’t plan such visits and have not been to Israel. Of those who have been here more than once, 13% were Germans and British, and 7% French, and 8% Polish.

“Asked if they had ever ‘met a Jew or an Israeli before,’ 58% of the Polish, 43% of the French, 42% of the Germans, and 33% of the British said they had “never done so.”

The team did not ask the Europeans’ views of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or whether their negative views would change if Israel elects a new premier.