Almost Half of Poles Think Israel Is An Aggressive Country

Ynetnews reports: Poles imagine Israel as a kind of Jewish shtetl in Eastern Europe before World War II, they argue that it’s a dangerous and aggressive country, and they don’t believe that it’s democratic, according to an opinion poll conducted among Polish citizens, the sixth largest country in Europe.

The survey, commissioned by the Israeli Embassy in Warsaw, showed that only 13 percent of Poles define themselves as knowing a lot about Israel, only nine percent had met Israelis and 23 percent drew a blank, having no associations with the Jewish State.

This is the first such survey commissioned by the Embassy since the renewal of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1990. Twenty-one percent of respondents mentioned wars, riots and conflicts as the first things that they associate with Israel; 10 percent immediately thought of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Only 21 percent indicated that they think of Israel as a safe country when directly asked.