🇮🇱 State of Israel (ישראל)
Visiting: Dangerous
Israel is generally safe, with a few caveats. Conflict is the main concern: it ranks 161st, in the bottom twenty. Even so, road deaths are low, ranking 27th, and LGBT rights are solid, at 42nd. Women's safety is good, ranking 50th, freedom is only partly protected, at 74th, and violent crime is moderate, placed 97th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Israel: 3.7
Ranked 84th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Nearly four killings per 100,000 people a year is below the world average but past the three where the low tier ends.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Below the world average, though the rate doubled in 2024 — 349 killings.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Israel: 4.9
Ranked 27th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Under five deaths per 100,000 people a year is a shade above the EU average of four and a half, and well under half the world average.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe by world standards, though the rate has risen.
Why we updated the score?
The WHO's 2021 figure was the statistics bureau's own count. The bureau has published 2025, the most in nearly twenty years, so we've used the newer count.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Israel: 4.10
Ranked 20th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
The ICJ, the UN's top court, put Israel in the dark red. In the genocide case South Africa brought over Gaza, it ordered measures against Israel in January, March and May 2024.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe near the Lebanese border, in Gaza or the West Bank. Iranian missiles killed people in Jerusalem, Haifa and the centre in 2026.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Israel: 6.56
Ranked 74th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Israel the lowest are movement and due process at 2. Total 16 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Inside Israel a visitor lives an open life. Movement and due process carry significant limits, and people have been arrested over social media posts about the Gaza war. Rated apart from the West Bank.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Israel: 6.2
Ranked 42nd most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Legal since 1988 with broad protections and recognition of foreign marriages, but no domestic same-sex marriage because religious authorities control it. The law index scores 74, public opinion 51.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. Tel Aviv hosts the region's only major Pride and an open scene without parallel for a thousand miles. Religious communities push the other way.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Israel: 8.03
Ranked 50th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Sixty-three percent of women feel safe out alone at night and violence at home is low. The courts rate only fairly, and that is what holds it back.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone is safe in Israel.