Jewish Israelis rethinking travel abroad amid rising global hostility

Over 75% of Jewish Israelis say recent antisemitic incidents abroad have reshaped their travel plans.

By World Israel News Staff

The majority of Israelis are taking global hostility toward the Jewish state into account when making travel plans abroad, according to a new survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute.

The poll, which surveyed around 750 Israeli adults — most of whom identified as Jewish — revealed that rising concerns about antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in foreign countries are significantly influencing Israelis’ decisions about where to travel.

More than three-quarters of Jewish Israelis — 76 percent — said that reports about antisemitic incidents abroad had affected their travel plans that were already in place.

Among those with existing reservations, 54.5 percent said they had switched their destination country after learning of an antisemitic event in their original location.

Additionally, 21.5 percent of respondents said they had canceled their trips entirely due to concerns about growing antisemitism overseas.

Almost 40 percent of Israelis said that they take antisemitic incidents into consideration when selecting a destination.

Nearly 20 percent cited increasing anti-Israel hostility as a reason they would not travel abroad in the immediate future.

Notably, the survey found that Arab Israelis are also concerned about encountering anti-Israel sentiment when traveling abroad.

Among survey participants who identified themselves as being of Arab ethnicity, around 40 percent said they are currently avoiding international trips.

An additional 26.5 percent of Arab Israelis with preexisting travel plans had changed their destination country due to anti-Israel sentiment.

The survey was conducted by the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, under the direction of Dr. Tamar Hermann.

Polling was carried out between July 27 and 31, 2025, among a representative sample of 601 Jewish respondents and 152 Arab respondents. The maximum sampling error is ±3.57 percent.

Since the outbreak of the war following the October 7 attacks, numerous international carriers have stopped flying to Israel.

While some carriers returned, the Israel-Iran conflict in June saw the number of airlines servicing Israel dramatically reduced.