The rise in anti-Semitism in the world is no longer limited to feelings or isolated events: In recent years, there has been a widespread and ongoing rise in the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia - a trend that began even before October 7, 2023, but intensified greatly thereafter.
The J7 report, which compiles data from the seven largest Jewish communities in the Diaspora, found more than 23,000 antisemitic incidents in 2025 alone.
Compared to 2022, this is an increase of approximately 136%.
In the United States, more than 9,300 cases of anti-Semitic attacks, vandalism, and harassment were recorded in 2024. This is the highest number recorded since the IDL began collecting data more than four decades ago.
A similar picture was recorded in Europe. In France, the number of anti-Semitic incidents jumped from 436 in 2022 to more than 1,600 the following year, and remained at a very high level thereafter.
According to French government data, anti-Semitic incidents at one point accounted for almost two-thirds of all anti-religious incidents in the country, even though Jews constitute a very small minority of the population.
Against the backdrop of the global wave of anti-Semitism, a new national survey examined how the phenomenon affects Israelis' attitudes toward additional citizenship.
The survey, which was conducted recently among 502 respondents from the Jewish sector aged 18 and over by the Shilov Institute - and was commissioned by Attorney Yehoshua Pax, of the Dekker-Pax-Levy firm, which deals with arranging foreign citizenship for Israelis and Israeli citizenship for foreigners - examined in depth the trends and motivations for obtaining additional citizenship among Israelis.
The survey findings reveal a somewhat paradoxical result: the more anti-Semitism grows outside of Israel, the greater the desire among Israelis to hold additional citizenship.
More than a third of respondents admitted that the rise in anti-Semitism worldwide is greatly or very greatly increasing the need for an additional foreign passport. About a quarter said that the phenomenon of anti-Semitism is increasing the need to a moderate extent, slightly less than a fifth said that it is increasing the need to a small extent, and only slightly less than a quarter said that anti-Semitism has no effect on the need at all.
This feeling hardly changes depending on the economic situation. Among low, average, and high-income earners in Israel, the rate is almost identical: around 351% of Israelis at all income levels believe that the wave of anti-Semitism significantly increases the need for additional citizenship.
The similarity between income groups is very unusual, as in other questions examined in the survey, and especially on economic issues such as the cost of living, clear gaps were evident between people with different incomes. In contrast, when it comes to anti-Semitism, these gaps almost disappear.
According to Attorney Pax, the reason for this may be that anti-Semitism is not perceived solely as a concrete threat to Jews living in a particular country, but is part of a broader sense that the international environment is becoming less stable and less predictable.
""There is an apparent contradiction here," says Pax. "The anti-Semitism that worries Israelis occurs outside of Israel, in many cases precisely in countries where foreign citizenship allows one to live and work. Therefore, the erroneous conclusion from the survey could be that Israelis claim they want to move to Europe or the US because of the rise in anti-Semitism. The mechanism at work here is apparently completely different.".
According to him, growing hostility toward Jews and Israel could be interpreted as part of a changing global environment, in which Israel's international status, support for it, and its ability to deal with regional challenges over time are perceived as less self-evident.
""It is known that in a situation of uncertainty, people try to expand their safety nets," says Pax. "In such a situation, there is a tendency to diversify the options available to them, while reducing dependence on one option. Additional citizenship can express exactly this. It does not oblige a person to move to another country, but it gives him and his children rights and options that they can use if the reality changes in the future.
""Also, a foreign passport allows Israelis to travel the world as citizens of another country, more neutral than Israel. In many countries, it is more convenient to check in at a hotel without the obligation to present an Israeli passport.".
According to Attorney Pax, many Israelis who come to his office are considering eligibility for additional citizenship not as part of a real plan to leave the country. Often, it is simply a desire to facilitate entry and travel to Europe or countries that are difficult or impossible to visit as Israelis, or to leave the door open: to gain the future opportunity to work, study or live in another country, and sometimes in the space of several countries, even if there is currently no intention of making any use of this option.
According to him, this is a much more logical explanation for the apparent paradox emerging from the survey. The rise in anti-Semitism in the world does not make it safer in the eyes of Israelis. But its rise reinforces the feeling among many that the world is becoming less predictable, and therefore it is worth accumulating as many cards as possible.
