African Americans in Israel number at least 25,000, comprise several separate groups, including the groups of African American Jews who have emigrated from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

making

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

, non-Jewish African Americans who have immigrated to Israel for personal or business reasons, pro-athletes who formerly played in the major leagues in the United States before playing in Israel on local basketball and other

sports teams A sports team is a group of individuals who play a team sport together. The number of players in the group depends on the sport. The highest level of a sports team is a professional sports team. In professional sports, the athletes are very t ...

, as well as foreign students studying in Israeli universities, businessmen, merchants, and guest workers, along with Israeli citizens of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

ancestry. African Americans have served in the

Israel Defence Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, and have largely been accepted and into Israeli society, and have represented Israel in numerous international forums such as the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, and the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. African American-Israelis have had a major cultural impact in Israel, particular in the arts and culture, music and sports. In addition, there as a large community of

Black Hebrew Israelites Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are a new religious movement claiming that African Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups ...

numbering at least 5,000 people, who originally immigrated to Israel from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in the 1960s, and live mostly in the southern Israeli town of

Dimona Dimona (, ) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arabah, Arava valley in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , its population was . The Shimon Pere ...

African American Israelis

There are a large number of African American Israelis including the American-born Israeli basketball player Joe Dawson and his Israeli-born son Shawn Dawson who live in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

, and American-born Israeli Olympic athlete Donald Sanford who lives in Ein Shemer with his

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

-Israeli wife.

African American Jews

There are a number of African American Jews who have made aliyah to Israel. All African American Jews are eligible for

Israeli citizenship Israel has two primary pieces of legislation governing the requirements for citizenship, the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew has the unrestricted right to immigrate to Israel and become an Israeli citizen. Individuals ...

, like all other

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, according to the Israeli

law of return The Law of Return (, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to Aliyah, relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli nationality law, Isra ...

. They span the full range of denominations of Judaism including

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, Orthodox and various streams of

Haredi Judaism Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

. Notable African American Jews who moved to Israel include Nissim Black, Amar'e Stoudmire, Nikia Browne, From Kohav Nolad season 8 and others.

African American athletes in Israel

A number of African American pro athletes have moved to Israel to play for local Israeli sports teams. The majority of these athletes are basketball players, and some have decided to stay in Israel permanently following their time in the Israeli national basketball league.

Black Hebrew Israelite community in Israel

The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem (also known as the Black Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, the Black Hebrew Israelites, or simply the Black Hebrews or Black Israelites) is a spiritual group of African Americans in Israel, now mainly based in Dimona, Israel, whose members believe they are descended from the

Twelve Tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( , ) are described in the Hebrew Bible as being the descendants of Jacob, a Patriarchs (Bible), Hebrew patriarch who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Jacob, later known as Israel (name), Israel, ...

. The community now numbers around 5,000. They came from a group of

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, many from

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, who migrated to Israel in the late 1960s. The group was founded in Chicago by a former steel worker named Ben Carter (1939–2014, also known as Ben Ammi Ben-Israel). In his early twenties Carter was given the name Ben Ammi by Rabbi Reuben of the Chicago Congregation of Ethiopian Hebrews. Ben Ammi was working in an airline factory when he first discovered the Black Hebrew movement and its philosophy. According to Ben Ammi, in 1966, at the age of 27, he had a

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

in which the Archangel

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

called him to take his people, African Americans, back to the Holy Land of Israel. Initially, the African Hebrew Israelites asserted that they were the only rightful inheritors of the land of Israel. They refused to convert to Judaism and asserted that most Israeli Jews were not descendants of the ancient Israelites. By the late 1980s, the group tempered their beliefs. They came to see Israel as a nation of many cultures, races, and religions.

Notable African-American Israelis

Donald Sanford at European Championships Helsinki 2013-03

* Jamie Arnold- African American-Israeli basketball player who played for the member of the

Israel men's national basketball team The Israel men's national basketball team () represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 39th in the FIBA Men's World Ranking, FIBA World Ran ...

. * Eddie Butler- Israeli singer of African Hebrew Israelite origin, who later converted to

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

and was a member of the band Eden. Butler was the first person of

descent to participate in the

when he represented

twice at the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

editions of the event. * Joe Dawson-

- Israeli professional basketball player * Shawn Dawson- Israeli basketball player of African American and

Yemenite Jewish Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of persecution, the vast majority of Yemenite J ...

descent, son of Joe Dawson, and member of the

. *

D'or Fischer D'or Anthony Naheem Fischer (; born October 12, 1981) is an American-Israeli professional basketball who last played for Elitzur Eito Ashkelon of the Israeli National League. He has also represented the senior Israeli national team. Standing at ...

Dor Anthony Naheem FISCHER (ISR).
/ref> (born October 12, 1981) is an American–Israeli professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Elitzur Eito Ashkelon Elitzur Eito Ashkelon () is a professional basketball team based in Ashkelon in south west Israel. The club currently plays in Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League.Israeli National League. He is originally from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

but has lived in Israel since the early 2000s and has been married to an Israeli woman since 2008. Fischer has also represented the senior Israeli national team. Standing at , he plays at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and center positions. * Ahuva Gray- African American-Israeli religious author and memoirist. She is a former Baptist minister from Chicago who converted to Orthodox Judaism and chronicled her changing beliefs in the book My Sister, the Jew, and has lived in Bayit VeGan, Jerusalem, Israel since the late 20th century. *

Aulcie Perry Aulcie Perry (; born July 3, 1950) is a retired American-Israeli professional basketball player. He helped Maccabi Tel Aviv win two EuroLeague championships, during his nine seasons with the team. During his playing career, he was listed at tal ...

- Israeli professional basketball player who played for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

between 1976 and 1985, who converted to

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and became an Israeli citizen in 1978. * Donald Sanford- African American-Israeli Olympic sprinter originally from

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, who represented Israel at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and is married to Israeli basketball player Danielle Dekel-Sanford since 2008, and resides in

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Ein Shemer. Sanford won a gold medal in the Men's 400m at the

2013 Maccabiah Games The 19th Maccabiah () were held during July 18 to 30, 2013. The Games brought together 7,500 competing athletes, making it the third-largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. The Maccabiah he ...

, and was named the 2014 Israeli Sportsman on The Year after he became only the second-Israeli to win the bronze medal in the 400 metres sprint at the European Athletic Championships held in Zurich on August 15, 2014, with a new Israeli record of 45.27 seconds. He dedicated his medal to the Israel Defense Forces. He also represented Israel at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

References

{{African Americans African-American diaspora African diaspora in Israel