Israeli teens: Second Holocaust unlikely

By · April 30, 2008

Most Israeli teens do not believe another Holocaust could happen, an Anti-Defamation League poll found.

Some, however, think Israel is “under a serious threat of destruction,” according to a telephone survey of 500 Israelis aged 15 to 17 conducted for the ADL by Market Watch Israel Ltd.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents in The 2008 Research into Anti-Semitism Awareness Among Israeli Teenagers and Adults survey say a second Holocaust of the Jewish people is not possible, while only 9 percent see it as a real possibility and 30 percent say there is a certain possibility.

Some 30 percent believe “Israel is under a serious threat of destruction,” up from 24 percent last year. Another 52 percent say “Israel is under a certain threat of destruction.”

On the subject of anti-Semitism, 91 percent of Israeli teens are aware of global anti-Semitism and 69 percent believe Israel should react to cases of anti-Semitism around the world. Some 80 percent say they have never encountered anti-Semitism.

Visiting historic sites and former Nazi concentration camps in Poland had a profound impact on most of the teens who participated. Those who did not go said it was because of “a lack of finances” or “lack of interest.”

The survey was conducted March 27-28 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.