Safe for Jews app helps travellers navigate antisemitism

French Jewish tourists leaving a Barcelona synagogue chased by an angry mob, an Australian Jewish couple threatened with death at a French supermarket, countless Israelis targeted around the world. In the face of heightened risks to Israeli and Jewish tourists, an Israeli entrepreneur is taking action. 

The founder of the web platform Safe for Jews, Shay Yaish, a keen traveller with a background in cybersecurity, always wanted his own startup. But he was unsure what its focus would be. It was when planning a trip with his wife that inspiration struck. 

“Using Google, we started looking for places to visit and included antisemitism in our search,” he says. “I realised that this was the idea I should be working on, and that became Safe for Jews. So, it came from this real pain I felt in possibly facing antisemitism when travelling.” 

Now a year old, Safe for Jews uses several factors to determine how safe a destination is for Israelis and other Jews. Using AI tools and Yaish’s personal oversight, the platform assesses the severity of warnings and incidents and applies different levels of importance to each one. 

Carrying the most weight are the Israeli government trip advisories, which give country-specific warnings to Israeli travellers. The second consideration is Israeli and global news reports, which are tagged according to whether they’re related to Jews specifically, or Israel in general. The last one is community feedback, gained when Israelis and other Jews report back on any negative experiences abroad around their religion or nationality. “I even get emails from Christians saying that they love and welcome Jews to their countries as well, so it’s been enlightening for me,” Yaish says. 

While he acknowledges the limitations of his platform, Yaish says he’s constantly working to enhance the information it provides. “I’m trying to give as clear a picture for people as possible, but it’s a complex project,” he says, “and there are a lot of changes happening constantly around the world.” 

On the platform, destinations are classified under four categories, “Safe”, “Caution”, “Warning”, or “Dangerous”. Even when a place is considered safe, travellers are advised to be aware and check news reports before they travel, Yaish says. If there have been antisemitic incidents in a particular country, caution is advised. “When we start to see increased trends, multiple antisemitic incidents against Jews or Israelis in a short period of time, we tag it as ‘Warning’,” Yaish explains. “Dangerous” destinations are those to which the Israeli government does not allow travel. 

While Jews around the world use the platform, it is more targeted to Israelis, Yaish admits. One of his plans is to offer separate classifications for diaspora-based Jews and Israelis, as they face different threat levels. 

The distinction plays a role in attitudes to travel to South Africa, where a degree of trepidation is especially evident among Israelis. Yaish says Safe for Jews’ “Warning” classification for South Africa is largely due to the Israeli government advising against non-essential travel to the country. This is obviously specific to Israeli travellers, he clarifies, saying, “When you’re flying with an Israeli passport, it’s more dangerous for you.” 

Safe for Jews reports that the greater risk is due to legal and diplomatic concerns. “Israel recalled its ambassador in 2023 and its chargé d’affaires was expelled in January 2026, leaving limited consular support,” it notes on its South African listing. It also mentions that Pretoria has said South African citizens who have served in the Israel Defense Forces face arrest on return and that the Jewish Agency’s chairperson cancelled a 2025 visit. 

The platform does, however, acknowledge that recorded antisemitism in South Africa is low. It cites May 2026 statistics from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) that reflect the same numbers as 2025 and a lower number of incidents than those observed in 2023 and 2024. It does, however, reference an uptick in incidents in Gauteng in the second quarter of this year. 

Wendy Kahn, the national director of the SAJBD, says the Board receives regular inquiries from Jewish people around the world considering visiting the country. “Frequently they express their concerns about the perception of antisemitism in our country,” she says. 

“We explain the reality of the situation on the ground in South Africa: that the hostility displayed by the African National Congress government in the past few years doesn’t translate to the situation on the ground. Israelis visiting often tell me of strangers approaching them in shops with a warm ‘Shalom’. We do hear anecdotes from time to time of someone saying ‘Free Palestine’ or something of that nature, but this is the exception.” 

Liron Sanders, chief executive of CSO, says the organisation also regularly receives safety queries from international travellers to South Africa. “Depending on the current environment, the advice we give is predominantly focused on awareness, being conscious of your surroundings, and knowing how to contact us in an emergency. If there is a specific trend, though, we will give advice that caters specifically to that. 

“Our advice to travellers is generally also focused on alertness and awareness of the environment you’re in. However, ahead of specific holiday periods we give more tangible advice about more specific risks. For example, during last year’s holiday period there was a risk of protests and baiting of community members, so we gave advice about disengagement and deescalation.” 

South Africa remains relatively safe, say the experts. “Thankfully we aren’t seeing the same violent aggression that tourists abroad encounter,” says Kahn. “It is horrifying to see some of the appalling targeting of Jews and Israelis globally. It gives us great pride that Jewish people feel comfortable to wear kippot and Magen David necklaces in our country.” 

Ultimately, the larger vision of Safe for Jews is helping Jewish people to travel safely, says Yaish. “It’s about helping them to find communities, welcoming hotels and businesses, and kosher restaurants so that they can feel safe to visit and not live in fear.”