Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Australian Jews to emigrate to Israel after the attack on Sunday in Bondi Beach, which claimed the lives of 15 people and left dozens injured, arguing that something like this would not happen in Israel.
Netanyahu argued that in Israel, the government and the army would work to protect Jews and would not ignore the signals of growing antisemitism, like Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has been doing.
But, if guided only by numbers, is Israel really the safest place for Jews and Israelis to be protected from terror attacks and antisemitic violence? Statistics prove that Netanyahu is wrong in this regard.
Before continuing, it's important to note that this exercise is done only to prove Netanyahu’s argument wrong, and must not be considered as a way to push anyone wanting to make aliyah (Jews' right of returning to Israel) away.
Israel is world's most dangerous place for Jews
There are approximately 150,000 Jews in Australia, including those in New Zealand: 120,000 are permanent residents, and the remaining 20,000-30,000 are travelers or people on non-permanent visas.
In the Bondi Beach attack, 15 people were murdered by terrorists, with not all of them confirmed yet to be Jewish. With this in mind, 15 of 150,000 gives that the 0,01% of the Jewish population of Australia was killed in the attack.
In contrast, during the war, some 1900 people, including civilians, soldiers, and security personnel, were killed in antisemitic attacks that included the October 7 massacre, operations in Gaza, and victims of missile and drone attacks.
Taking into account that these attacks were aimed at killing the Jewish population of Israel, which is approximately eight million people, then 0.0235% of the Jewish population was killed since October 7.
This is almost twice the number of victims in Australia, and many more times the number registered in other Western countries like the US, France, or the UK.
In favour of Netanyahu, antisemitic attacks on Jewish lifestyle in Israel are almost non-existent, with Jews living freely and knowing that no one will target them for following their traditions in the country.
This is not aimed at discouraging people wanting to make aliyah, but to warn that Netanyahu’s words about Israel being safer than the West for Jewish people are not completely accurate and must not guide someone’s aliyah process.