Israel is now perceived more negatively than any other country in the world, followed by North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran, according to new global polling published by Nira Data as part of its 2026 democracy and country perception research, reports Middle East Monitor.
The five most positively perceived countries were Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Sweden and Italy.
The findings place Israel at the bottom of the Global Country Perceptions 2026 ranking, a survey of 46,667 respondents assessing how 129 countries and three international organisations are viewed around the world.
The ranking was published alongside Nira Data’s 2026 Democracy Perception Index, which surveyed 94,146 respondents across 98 countries on how citizens experience democracy in their own countries.
The result marks another sign of Israel’s deepening international isolation amid its genocide in Gaza, mass displacement of Palestinians, starvation policies and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s global image has collapsed as human rights organisations, UN experts and international courts have warned of grave violations of international law by the occupation state.
The United States also suffered a dramatic collapse in global standing. Washington is now ranked among the five most negatively perceived countries in the world, below both Russia and China in international favourability.
Its net perception score fell from +22 per cent in 2024 to -16 per cent in 2026, a 38-point drop in just two years.
US decline came amid growing anger over president Donald Trump’s foreign policy, including strained relations with NATO allies, aggressive tariffs, threats relating to Greenland, cuts to Ukraine aid and Washington’s role in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. The survey found that the US is now viewed as a major global threat, behind Russia and Israel.
The wider 2026 Democracy Perception Index describes itself as the world’s largest annual democracy survey. Unlike expert-based democracy rankings, it asks citizens directly how they experience democracy through questions on elections, freedom of speech, political pluralism, civic education, separation of powers, rule of law, government transparency and peaceful transitions.
The collapse in Israel’s standing comes as global public opinion has shifted sharply against the occupation state over its assault on Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 74 thousand Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, displaced nearly the entire population and imposed conditions that UN experts and genocide scholars have described as genocidal.
For the US, the findings point to the steep cost of Washington’s continued military, diplomatic and political support for Israel. While successive US administrations have shielded Israel from accountability at the UN and continued arms transfers despite mounting evidence of war crimes, the survey suggests that global publics increasingly associate American power with impunity, double standards and destabilising wars.
