Results of a new poll commissioned by the European Commission show that Europeans in 15 countries believe Israel to be the greatest threat to world peace.



The full results of the survey will be released tomorrow. It is known that 7,500 people - 500 in each of the 15 EU member states - were presented with a list of 15 countries and asked if these countries present a threat to world peace. Israel was rated "yes" by the highest number of respondents.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international organization dedicated to combating antisemitism worldwide, states that the poll shows that Europeans have fallen for the European leaders' and media's "vilification and demonization campaign" against the State of Israel and its supporters. "These shocking results, that Israel is the greatest threat to world peace, bigger than North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan, defy logic and are a racist flight of fancy that only show that antisemitism is deeply embedded within European society, more now than in any other period since the end of World War II," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Center's dean and founder. He said that the obvious conclusion is that the European Union can play no role in any future Middle East peace process.