About 95 per cent of Israelis believe their country is plagued by racism

In the lead up to the International Day to Eliminate Racial Discrimination, which is observed on Friday, a new poll shows that more than 95 per cent of Israelis believe that their country is plagued by racism.

The poll, conducted by the Hebrew language newspaper Israel Hayom, finds that without specifying any particular class, more than 95 per cent of Israeli respondents believe that at least one social class in their country suffers from racial discrimination.

According to the newspaper, when naming particular classes, 79 per cent of Israelis polled said that Jews of Ethiopian origin suffer from racial discrimination, while around 68 per cent suggest that Arabs are discriminated against in Israel.

41.8 per cent of those polled believe that extremist religious Jews are discriminated against, and 34 per cent said that Sephardic Jews and Jews from the former Soviet Union are also subjected to racism.

Only 4.4 per cent of the Israelis polled believe that their country is free of racial discrimination.

When asked about the best way to fight this trend of discrimination, 50 per cent of those polled responded that education is key.