Observant Jews in Poland. Photo: Piotr Drabik via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Ten percent of Central and Eastern Europeans say they would not want Jews as citizens in their countries, and less than three-quarters of those polled would want Jewish neighbors, according to a new study published Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.

The Pew study surveyed residents of 18 European countries between June 2015 and July 2016. Less than 50 percent of respondents indicated they would accept having Jewish family members.

The degree of anti-Jewish sentiment varied between different European countries. A third of Armenians polled in the study said Jews should not be citizens, significantly higher than the median anti-Jewish sentiment measured in other countries.

The study also found that countries with large Jewish populations prior to the Holocaust registered higher levels of anti-Jewish sentiment, including Lithuania (23 percent), Romania (22 percent), the Czech Republic (19 percent) and Poland (18 percent).

Respondents with higher levels of education were found to be the most accepting of Jews as citizens, neighbors or family members.