As a local Israeli backpacker, you can imagine how often I find myself in a situation where I get asked this question in some form or another. And if I’m being honest – It’s not a surprise.
We often hear in the news about the continuous state of conflict in the Middle East, and especially in Israel. While these news can be extremely important to understand current events, they can definitely paint a picture in our head that might not be very accurate.
In this article we’re going to take a fact-based approach and go over the statistics to learn exactly how safe or unsafe Israel really is.
But before diving into the stats, is Israel safe?
Israel is actually extremely safe. Many find it hard to believe, but Israel has lower crime and terrorism rates than the United States and even some European countries.
Let’s dive in and find out why!
Is terrorism a problem in Israel?
Let’s start with the obvious.
The main reason why most people are worried about visiting Israel, is because of all the terror attacks they hear about in the media.
It is true that Israel has a conflict with some neighboring countries, as well as the Palestinian Authorities. It is also true that terror attacks happen here from time to time, and that the army goes on an operation if things get heated up, usually once every several years or so.
However how does this affect the civilians?
I did my best to look for concrete numbers to answer this question.
After doing some research, I have found that according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Since September 2000, around 1,360 people have been killed as a result of Terrorism.1
This number might seem high at first, however we can easily calculate the severity of this number.
When calculating statistics (about a fun topic like deaths), they’re usually calculated as “rate per 100,000 residents – per year”. If we consider that this happened in the span of 20 years, with the current Israeli population size of 8.8 million people, we end up with the rate of 0.77 per 100,000 inhabitants.2
Now I know this might not say much to most of you (other that I’m a huge numbers nerd), but if we compare it, just as an example, to car accidents in the US, we will that they cause 11.2 deaths per 100,0003 per year, in the US. Simply put, terrorist attacks in Israel get to the front headlines not because they’re so frequent, but because they make a unique and shocking story.
Considering Israel’s crime rates
It’s true that as small of a number as it is, it’s still a problem that most other developed countries don’t need to worry about. So how can it be that Israel is safer than some of these countries?
Well, In most places around the world, death as a criminal offense is a bigger issue than wars and conflict.4 If we compare the UN official statistics of intentional homicide5 (fun travel article right? ???? Haha I wanted to give out as reliable information as possible!), we will find out that Israel has exceptionally low crime rates! Almost as low as Germany, and even a tiny bit lower than France!
These statistics are calculated as rate per 100,000 population as well, and so we can easily gather an overall safety result, by adding up the numbers we’ve already calculated in the previous section!
In 2015 the Israeli rate of homicide was at 1.36, if we add 0.77 to it, we get an overall rate of 2.13 deaths by violent acts.
If you compare that to the other countries, that’s still a little bit lower than Hungary, and almost two and a half times lower than the 4.96 rate of the United States!
Conclusion
Many people are terrified of the idea of visiting Israel. It’s one of those countries that as soon as you tell your friends and family you’re planning to visit, their stomach turns in its place, and that’s understandable.
The media’s image of Israel truly is terrifying, how could it not be? When all we hear about a certain place is war, we’re destined to be afraid of it.
Don’t let that stop you from visiting though!
Israel truly is a beautiful country that is full of warm people, amazing beaches and jaw dropping food!
By visiting here, you will get the chance to expand your horizons, and experience in real life how safe, cozy, and nice Israel truly is.
Don’t let the media take your opportunity of falling in love with this warm and cozy little place. You’ll have a blast! Well… as long as you learn how to haggle and don’t let yourself get scammed by those expensive taxis, but that’s a whole different story!
Hope you had a fun time reading this, see you in the next one!
The first time I ever left the borders of my country was when I was 19 for a short 3 day visit to Cyprus. Two years later I’ve been to 13 countries already and I want more! Traveling is truly the most eye opening and mind expanding experience I can think of. I have a love for teaching and self improvement, and sharing my thoughts about travel seems like the best way to combine those passions.
