Israel Ties With North Korea on Least Popular Poll

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Israel Ties With North Korea on Least Popular Poll

A poll measuring public opinion of several different countries recently released by the bbc ranked Israel’s popularity lower than ever. The lowest ranked nation was Iran, followed by Pakistan. After that, it was a tie between North Korea and Israel.

The Country Ratings Poll, which has been conducted on a yearly basis since 2005, has shown a continued decrease in Israel’s popularity. Of all the nations surveyed in 2012, only three nations had a majority that viewed Israel positively: the United States, Kenya and Nigeria.

While the world’s overall negative view of Israel is a bad sign for the small nation, even more concerning is the trend in its neighbor to the south. The recent radicalization of Egypt has had a drastic effect on its opinion of Israel. Eighty-five percent of Egyptians polled viewed Israel negatively. While this would come as no surprise to Trumpet readers, it should send alarm bells ringing throughout Western nations—primarily the United States, who helped usher in the new, more radical Egyptian government. Egyptian positive opinion of Israel has fallen a significant seven percent since 2011—a clear indication that its current peaceful relationship with Israel is in jeopardy.

The 2012 poll also revealed that Israel’s popularity took a big hit among European nations. Negative views of Israel in Spain and France were up eight and nine percent respectively since last year. Negative views in Britain and Germany remained steady, but high, coming in at around 70 percent.

Post-World War ii Europe has been tolerant of the small Jewish nation up until recently. Increased anti-Semitic rhetoric and demonstrations in Europe show a dangerous new trend among European nations. For more on these incidents and why Israel is perceived so negatively on the world scene, read “The Root Cause of Anti-Semitism.”