STEPHEN COHEN: The long painful history of Italian Jews

About 27,000 to 30,000 Jews live in Italy, about 1,000 of them in Florence. That is roughly 0.05 percent of the country’s population, or about one person in 2,000. Italy had a population of about 58.94 million as of January 1, 2026. Worldwide, there are 15.8 million Jews, about 0.19 percent of the world’s population, or roughly one person in 510. Israel and the United States are home to 85 percent of them. A 2024 survey by Eurispes, an Italian research institute, found that 33.4 percent of Italians agree that “Jews control economic and financial power,” 30 percent agree that “Jews control the media,” and 27.5 percent agree that Jews “determine Western political choices.” The institute reported that the overall trends continued into 2025. A July 2025 YouTrend survey found that 36 percent of Italians think Jews have too much influence in international finance and major media, and 17 percent believe Jews are responsible for most wars in the world.

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