Poll claims 25% of Israelis fear a second Holocaust
New survey indicates levels of anti-Semitism rising worldwide; a third of Israelis believe European Jews should immigrate to Israel
Israelis are worried for the future of world Jewry, a new poll has found, with a quarter of respondents believing another Holocaust could take place and almost a third agreeing that European Jews should move to Israel.
The complete findings of the survey by the World Zionist Organization will be presented on Sunday at a conference in Jerusalem devoted to new forms of anti-Semitism and the international boycott movement against Israel.
“This new data is sad and surprising,” the Hebrew-language website NRG quoted WZO Vice Chairman Yaakov Hagoel as saying. “It is inconceivable that Jews, having a country of their own, still believe the Holocaust could happen again.”
“I am not in the 25 percent that think another Holocaust may take place, but in the 75% who believe that so long as the State of Israel exists – and it will exist forever – there will not be another Holocaust. In my eyes, there was a Holocaust because we didn’t have a state. Today this would not happen,” Hagoel told Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon.
Almost half the people surveyed (46%) said that they understand that Jews continue to live in European countries despite a rise in anti-Semitic sentiment and attacks for “economic, social and other reasons.” But 39% said the Jews of Europe should move to Israel in the face of rising violence against Jews abroad.
European Jews have endured a series of attacks in recent years, most notably in France, where a Marseille Jewish leader’s suggestion that Jews should not wear a skullcaps in public sparked an outcry and politicians have rushed to decry anti-Semitism.
An overwhelming 83% of respondents said the Israeli government should intervene in the job market to help new immigrants acclimatize in the Israeli economy, and 30% supported the government’s forcing employers to allot a certain number of positions for new immigrants.
The number of people surveyed and margin of error were not cited. The survey was conducted by Israeli polling institute Midgam.
The Times of Israel Community.