Iranian Jews in Israel refers to the community of Iranian Jews who immigrated to Ottoman Palestine,

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, and later the

State of 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 ...

. Iranian Jews in Israel number more than 200,000 and most of them are Israeli born.

History

The first Iranian Jews to settle in Ottoman Palestine were from Shiraz. They left in 1815 in a caravan, making their way to the port of Bushehr and from there boarded a ship to

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

in southern Iraq. From there, they traveled by land to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Those who survived the difficult journey settled in Tzfat and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, establishing the nucleus of the Iranian Jewish community in these cities. After the establishment of the

, immigration increased significantly. In 1952, approximately 30,000 Iranian Jews immigrated to Israel under the Israeli mission Operation Cyrus. In the 1950s, the Israeli treatment of Iranian Jews was similar to the Israeli treatment of other Jews from the Middle Eastern and North African region. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, over 200,000 Iranians have settled in Israel. Many Iranian Jews immigrated to Israel after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

in 1979. Following the revolution, an additional 10,000 to 15,000 Iranian Jews immigrated directly to Israel. Many others migrated first to the United States or Europe and then to Israel, mainly out of fear of the

Ayatollah Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...

's regime but also from lack of familiarity with Israel. Some fled after Habib Elghanian was murdered after being accused of "

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

." Israel continues to encourage the remaining Jews in Iran (less than 9,000) to immigrate, since Israel sees them as hostages of the Iranian regime. In 2007, Israel offered monetary incentives to Jews in Iran to encourage Iranian Jewish immigration to Israel. Jews of Iranian descent in Israel are considered Mizrahim. A Mizrahi Jew, broadly construed, is a Jewish person from North Africa and Asia. Kol Israel transmits daily radio broadcasts to Iran in the Persian language and Menashe Amir, an Iranian Jew, hosts a talk show that draws callers from Iran.

Notable Israelis of Iranian-jewish descent

* Joel Simkhai - founder of Grindr *

Sean Rad Sean Rad (born May 22, 1986) is an Iranian-American entrepreneur and the Founder of Tinder (app), Tinder. Rad launched Tinder in 2012 and by 2015, Tinder was the top grossing app in 99 countries, and in 2017, Tinder became the highest grossing ...

– founder of

Tinder Tinder is easily Combustibility and flammability, combustible material used to Firemaking, start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder unt ...

* David Rokni - Israeli colonel * Eliezer Avtabi - Israeli politician * Yossi Avni-Levy - Israeli ambassador, diplomat * Galit Distel-Atbaryan - Israeli politician, writer * Nitsana Darshan-Leitner - Israeli attorney * Sharon Roffe Ofir - Israeli journalist, politician * Eli Avivi - founder of the micronation Akhzivland * Menashe Amir – Broadcaster in the Persian-language Kol Israel radio *Yigal Sebty - Iranian books Writer/Translator & Broadcaster in the Persian-language Kol Israel radio - retired in 2014 *Orly (Fernos) Rem - Broadcaster and Director of the Persian-language Kol Israel radio *Sima Bachar – Mrs. Israel 2005 * Michael Ben-Ari – Israeli politician * Dan Halutz – Former

chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

Israel Defense Forces 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 ...

* Mor Karbasi – Singer * Moshe Katsav – Former President of Israel * Rita Kleinstein – Israeli pop singer * Shaul Mofaz – Former IDF Chief of Staff and Israeli Minister of Transport. Had been elected the chairman of the Kadima. * Mordechai Zar – Israeli politician and former member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

*Ramtin Sebty – Head of the IDF's nonconventional weapons defensive alignment * Zion Evrony – Israel's ambassador to the Vatican and former ambassador to Ireland * Yosef Shiloach – Israeli comedy actor *

Lior Eliyahu Lior Eliyahu (; born 9 September 1985) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He is 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) in height and he weighs 105 kg (225 pounds). He plays at the Power forward (basketball), power forward position. He was ...

– Israeli professional basketball player * Ofir Davidzada – Israeli football player * Liraz Charhi – Israeli actress, singer * Moussa B. H. Youdim – Professor Emeritus, Winner of Israel Prize for Life Science.

References

External links

Iran's Jews

Documentary about Iranian Israelis
{{Jews and Judaism in Iran Israeli Jews by national origin Iran–Israel relations Jewish exodus from the Muslim world

History

Notable Israelis of Iranian-jewish descent

See also

References

External links