Israel drops 10 spots in ranking of best countries based on global perception
US News & World Report list for 2024 is topped by Switzerland, with Jewish state plunging from 36th to 46th position amid its grueling war against Hamas in Gaza
Israel dropped 10 spots in a ranking of the “best countries” issued this week by the US News & World Report media company, after 11 months of fighting against Hamas in Gaza, the country’s longest and deadliest war in decades.
According to the new ranking, Israel currently ranks 46th out of 89 countries included on the list, down from 36th out of the 87 countries ranked in 2023. Overall in this year’s rankings, Switzerland landed in the first spot, Japan second and the US third.
The rankings are based on global perceptions, the news outlet says, with the data drawn from polling 16,960 individuals from 36 countries on 73 different possible country attributes, during a survey carried out between March 22 and May 23.
Despite its overall drop, Israel is however ranked 10th among countries considered most powerful — the same as it was in 2022 and 2023 — as well as third in the perceived strength of its military, and 10th among those viewed as the “biggest leaders.”
Only two countries saw sharper declines than Israel over the past year in the “best country” overall category — Ukraine, dropping from 68th to 80th, and Bahrain, which fell from 58th to 69th.
The news company has been issuing these rankings since 2016, which is also the year Israel saw its highest position, at number 25. In 2021 it was in 30th, before dropping a year later to 37, rising to 36 last year before now plummeting to 46th.
The Jewish state saw its biggest drop this year in the category of “cares about the environment,” from 54th to 87th, as well as 24-spot drops in the rankings of countries considered good for tourism; having many cultural attractions; not being corrupt; and being scenic. The country also dropped 20 places among those ranked as having the best food.
As a survey based on public perceptions, it appears likely that respondents with negative views of Israel over its war against Hamas in Gaza took a poorer view of the nation’s attributes, as the cultural attractions and level of food available have remained largely unchanged over the past year.
More than 80 percent of participants in the survey agreed with the statement: “I fear conflicts in the Middle East will lead to a broader global conflict.”
Israel was ranked as the 69th least corrupt country for 2024, with Russia coming in last place as the most corrupt, followed by Iran and then Colombia.
Amid the countries in the region included in the survey, Israel ranked below the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt among the overall best nations, and ahead of Cyprus, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iran — which came 82nd out of 89 — and Lebanon, ranked 87th.
Behind Lebanon, the worst-ranked countries on the list are Serbia and Belarus.
The news agency says its rankings are based on an effort to “seek to examine a nation’s worth beyond hard metrics.”
