See also: Press coverage in Jerusalem Post, Jedioth Achronoth, ynet, Maariv, Independent, Frankfurter Rundschau, and FTD.

Detailed results: see above (pdf file)

A recent survey, commissioned by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s Israel office and conducted by KEEVOON Research, Strategy & Communications, revealed that Germany has a very favorable image among Israelis (67%) and they would like to see a more dominant Germany within the EU (67%). In addition, a surprising 75% of Israelis would like to see Israel join the EU.

The poll was commissioned to coincide with Germany's term of the Presidency of the EU which began on January 1. This is the first comprehensive poll that was sanctioned after the Quartet Peace Initiative that examined Israeli attitudes towards the EU and not EU attitudes towards Israel.

The results show that Germany is one of the leaders of the EU's positive image amongst Israelis. Accordingly, Germany's Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel is one of the most favored in Israel (50% favorable as opposed to 9% unfavorable). Israelis also believe that Merkel's election as the first woman Chancellor improves Germany's image throughout the world (60%).

Dr. Lars Hänsel, Director of the KAS Israel office: "The results show how deep the German-Israeli bond is and will help to bring Europe and Israel even closer. Germany is committed to Israel's security having recently sent Peace-keeping forces to the shores off Lebanon to help protect Israel and subsidized the sale of 3 Dolphin class submarines to the Israeli Navy. This poll proves that Israelis want to strengthen the German-Israel ties, too".

The poll also discovered the strong patriotic sentiments in Israel and showed that despite the fact that 77% of Israelis feel that Israel is not on the right track, only 11% would immigrate to Europe if given EU citizenship.

According to the survey 50% of Israelis have visited Europe in the past 3 years for business or pleasure with the most popular destinations being France, Italy, England, Spain and Germany.

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung has been very active in promoting Israeli-German relations and educational causes in Israel ever since its foundation. KAS’s has been running projects in Israel through its office in Jerusalem for the past 27 years. The foundation is dedicated to the legacy of the late German chancellor Konrad Adenauer who was the founder of the strong German-Israeli bond following the Second World War. He developed a special relationship with Israel and was particularly close with Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

The survey was conducted between Feb. 5-7, 2007. Scientific advise was provided by Dr. Sharon Pardo, Director of the Center for the Study of European Politics and Society at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. 511 people responded to the survey which was a representative sample of the Jewish and Arab population in Israel. The survey has a 4.5 margin of error. Jewish Israelis were polled in Hebrew while Arab Israelis were polled in Arabic.