Israel is the most negatively viewed country in the world, according to a new global survey released by the research firm Nira Data as part of its “2026 Democracy and Country Perceptions” study. North Korea and the United States are also among the top five most negatively viewed countries, the survey found.
The five most positively viewed countries are Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Sweden and Italy, the study said. Israel finished at the very bottom of the “Global Country Perceptions 2026” ranking. The survey was based on responses from 46,667 people and was designed to assess how 129 countries and three international organizations are viewed around the world.
The result is another sign of Israel’s growing international isolation amid the killings in Gaza, the mass displacement of Palestinians, the starvation of Muslims in Palestine and rising violence in the occupied West Bank, the study said. Human rights organizations, United Nations experts and international courts have warned of serious violations of international law by Israel, and the country’s global image has fallen sharply, it said.
The decline in Israel’s standing has come amid its assault on Gaza. Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, destroyed much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, displaced nearly the entire population and imposed conditions that U.N. experts and researchers have described as genocidal, the study said.
The United States has also seen a dramatic decline in its global standing. It now ranks fifth among the most negatively viewed countries internationally, behind both Russia and China. Its net perception score has fallen 38 points in two years, from plus 22 percent in 2024 to minus 16 percent in 2026, the survey found.
President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is responsible for the U.S. shift, according to the study. The survey cited strains with NATO allies, aggressive tariffs, threats over Greenland, cuts to aid for Ukraine and Washington’s role in the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. The United States is now seen as one of the world’s major threats, behind only Russia and Israel, the survey said.
The survey asked citizens directly how they experience democracy through questions on elections, freedom of speech, political pluralism, civic education, separation of powers, the rule of law, government transparency and the peaceful transfer of power.
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