Global perceptions of Israel highly negative according to US News & World Report annual ranking

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The US News & World Report published its annual ranking of the “Best Countries” in the world this week, with Israel dropping 10 spots from No. 36 to No. 46 overall, out of the 87 countries ranked in 2023.

Switzerland ranked first, followed by Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Denmark.

The ranking was based on global perceptions of each nation, gathered from a poll of 16,960 people across 36 countries, evaluating 73 different country attributes. The poll was conducted between March 22 and May 23.

According to US News & World Report: “Each country was scored on each of the 73 country attributes based on a collection of individual survey responses. The more a country was perceived to exemplify a certain characteristic in relation to the average, the higher that country's attribute score..."

The scores were converted into a standardized scale for comparison. The attributes were organized into 10 thematic subrankings: Adventure, Agility, Cultural Influence, Entrepreneurship, Heritage, Movers, Open for Business, Power, Quality of Life and Social Purpose.

The subranking scores for each country were calculated by averaging the scores it received across all the attributes that make up that subranking.

For example, in the category "Social Purpose," Israel ranked No. 62, scoring particularly low in perceptions related to caring about human rights, environment, gender equality, religious freedom, property rights, trustworthiness, equitable distribution of political power, racial equity, animal rights, commitment to climate goals and dedication to social justice.

Adventure was measured according to perceptions of the country as being “friendly, fun, good for tourism, pleasant climate, scenic, sexy.” Here, Israel ranked No. 87 out of 89, with very low scores on “fun,” “friendly” and “good for tourism.”

When it came to "Cultural Influence," however, Israel ranked No. 10. The category was measured according to perceptions of whether the country is “a leader, economically influential, has strong exports, politically influential, strong international alliances, strong military.”

In the category, “Open for Business,” which measures perceptions regarding cheap manufacturing costs, favorable tax environment, bureaucracy, corruption and transparent government practices, Israel ranked at No. 86.

In the category of Quality of Life, measured on “a good job market, affordable, economically stable, family-friendly, income equality, politically stable, safe, well-developed public education system, well-developed public health system” Israel ranked No. 56, scoring especially low on affordable, family-friendly and safety.

In 2016, when the US News & World Report began its global rankings report, Israel first ranked No. 25 – its highest ranking ever. Five years later, in 2021, Israel had slid down to the No. 30 spot.

Polling last year was likely influenced by the wave of antisemitism that has swept the world since Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza. More than 80% of those surveyed agreed with the statement: “I fear conflicts in the Middle East will lead to a broader global conflict.”

In the Middle East, Israel was ranked below the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt among the overall best nations, and ahead of Cyprus, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iran and Lebanon, which was ranked 87th.

Behind Lebanon, the worst-ranked countries on the list were Serbia and Belarus.

According to US News & World Report, the purpose of the rankings is to “seek to examine a nation’s worth beyond hard metrics.”