Hide Your Identity: Israel’s Chilling Warning to Jews Traveling Abroad
A Yedioth Ahronoth article advises Israeli travellers to conceal their Jewish identity abroad due to rising anti-Semitic threats, highlighting precautions like avoiding Hebrew clothing and social media disclosures. The guidance reflects a broader global surge in anti-Jewish hostility, often fueled by misinformation and Hamas propaganda, leaving Jews feeling uniquely vulnerable.
An article titled “How to Protect Yourselves Abroad” by journalist Itamar Eichner in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s leading paid newspaper, has highlighted the growing fears among Israelis traveling overseas due to a surge in anti-Semitic incidents. The piece offers sobering advice for Jewish travellers, reflecting a grim reality where concealing their identity is deemed essential for safety. Recommendations include avoiding displays of Israeli or Jewish identity, such as not wearing clothing with Hebrew text, kippot, or tzitzit, traditional garments worn by religious Jewish men. Travelers are urged not to disclose their Israeli or Jewish background to strangers and to refrain from posting travel plans or real-time trip updates on social media, as these could make them targets.
The guidance comes amid a global spike in antisemitism, with 920 anti-Jewish hate crimes reported in Canada in 2024 and a 140% increase in the U.S., per the Anti-Defamation League, often fueled by anti-Israel rhetoric following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which killed 1,189 and abducted 251. Eichner’s article poses a haunting question: “Is there any other country that needs to warn its citizens to hide their identity when traveling overseas?” This underscores the unique vulnerability faced by Jews, as antisemitic incidents, like the recent disruption of a hostage rally in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, with chants invoking the 628 CE Khaybar massacre, proliferate. Social media on X amplifies these concerns, with one user stating, “Antisemites posing as activists spread Hamas lies, endangering Jews everywhere.”
Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, have criticized the international community’s muted response to such hatred, noting, “The silence of some nations empowers those who threaten Jewish lives.” The advisory reflects a broader trend, as Jewish communities from France to Australia report heightened security measures at synagogues and schools. For Israelis, once proud to share their heritage abroad, the need to hide it signals a distressing new normal driven by anti-Semitic propaganda masquerading as activism.