| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 900,000 [lower-alpha 1] [1] [2] 472,800 (born in Morocco or with a Moroccan-born father) [lower-alpha 2] [3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Netanya, Ashdod, Kiryat Shmona and many other places | |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew (Main language for all generations); Older generation: Moroccan Berber; Judeo-Berber; Moroccan Arabic; Judeo-Moroccan Arabic; Moroccan French; Moroccan Ladino | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
Moroccan Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Moroccan Jewish communities who now reside within the state of Israel. The 2019 Israeli census counts 472,800 Jews born in Morocco or with a Moroccan-born father, [3] although according to the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry, nearly one million Israeli Jews are Moroccan or of Moroccan descent, making them the second-largest community in the country. [4]
274,180 individuals are recorded to have emigrated from Morocco to Israel between the establishment of the state in 1948 and the year 2016. [5]
Before the establishment of the State of Israel, rising French influence in Morocco at the beginning of the 20th century encouraged Moroccan Jews to enroll in French schools, receive a French education and integrate into French culture until 1940, when the Vichy laws came into effect and forbade Jewish attendance in French schools. After the Second World War and the establishment of the state of Israel, Jewish Zionist organizations encouraged many Jewish families to leave Morocco and they migrated to Israel legally, with the approval of the French rule at the time. Following the war, many young Moroccan Jews migrated to Israel in a bold move and joined "Gahal" forces that were fighting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Prior to the signing of the Fez Treaty, which entailed French protection of Moroccan Jews, there was a mass escape of Jews from large cities such as Fez, Meknes, Rabat and Marrakech to the smaller towns and villages surrounding the cities. The overcrowding, the decline in financial circumstances and the need to pray in secret caused some young families to emigrate to Israel or move to Tunisia; which employed a more liberal policy for Jews.[ citation needed ] Rumors and letters which started arriving at synagogues told of Jews migrating to and settling in Israel, encouraging the Maghreb Jews. The first community to make the move were Fez Jews who were living near the main synagogue in Fez. About 60 to 80 young families migrated from 1908 to 1918, and settled mainly in Jerusalem and Tiberias. Amongst the first families to settle in Jerusalem were; Ohana, and Zana, Mimeran, Turgeman, and Aifraga. The Aifraga brothers, who were bankers back in Fez, could not adapt to life in Israel; they bid their cousins, the Zane family, goodbye in 1918, and moved to France and subsequently to Canada as Morocco was no more an option since the initial departure from Morocco was seen as a sedition by most Moroccans Jews and non-Jews. The David, Zane, and Turgeman families lived in the Jewish Quarter whilst the rest of the families lived in Mishkanot (English: "residence") and Sukkot Shalom (English: "peace tent").
Migration was carried out largely through Tunisia, using small boats to travel from there to Israel. In the summer of 1911, a baby boy; Moshe Vezana, was born, a son to Simcha (Pircha) and David, aboard the ship on their way to Israel. Upon their arrival at Yafo port, the baby's Brit Milah was celebrated. The boy, who was a son to a 'Mugrabi' family, was recorded at times as a Tunisian native and, at other times, as an Israeli native. All other eight brothers were born in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was a large family of Mughrabi; the largest living inside the walls of the Old City, until their escape to Katamon due to 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Maghreb Jewish community was small between the first and third migrations. Leading congregations in Jerusalem were primarily communities which had immigrated from Iraq, Iran, Bukhara and Yemen.[ citation needed ]
After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, and due to domestic strife in the 1950s, the next several decades saw waves of Moroccan Jewish emigration to Israel. [6] Moroccan Jews emigrated for a variety of reasons. Some have emigrated to Israel for religious reasons, some feared persecution, and others left for better economic prospects than they faced in post-colonial Morocco. With every Arab–Israeli war, tensions between Muslim Arabs and Jews rose, sparking more Moroccan Jewish emigration. By the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the majority of Morocco's Jewish population had emigrated to Israel. [7]
Morocco once represented the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world. However beginning around the time of the establishment of the modern state of Israel, through the mid-1970s, almost 90% of Moroccan Jews made Aliyah and emigrated to Israel. [8] Jewish emigration from Morocco was uncommon before 1945. This was partially due to a lack of stressors to leave. Jews in Morocco felt like they had political security and favorable economic opportunity. They did not want to move to British-controlled Israel-Palestine where the political landscape and economic conditions were more unstable. The British restricted Jewish immigration making the process difficult and providing further disincentive. Additionally, French Moroccan authorities worked to neutralize Zionist efforts when interest in Zionism was proliferating throughout Europe.
In 1947–1948, interest in making Aliyah became clear in large segments of Moroccan Jewry. One reason for this was dissatisfaction with the French government's treatment of Moroccan Jews. Specifically, there was a refusal to consider granting educated Jews French citizenship which led to a desire for more freedom and better representation in government. Additionally, many places where the current system, which included the AIU, failed had produced regions of mass poverty. Along with this, there was an emotional drive fueled by Zionism gaining popularity among Moroccan Jews. This was a result of greater clarity into the viability of a Jewish state in Palestine.
During this early period of immigration, much of it was facilitated illegally by Mossad LeAliyah Bet and Jewish Agency emissaries. Moroccan Jews were smuggled into Morocco through the border at Oujda. From there, they were brought to transit camps. Only three ships were able to leave. The first two were held in Cyprus until Israeli independence and the last left with only 44 emigrants due to the activity being discovered by French Moroccan authorities. This resulted in the shutdown of this entire illegal emigration operation. A consequence of these activities was an increase in antisemitism in Morocco. A notable incident was a pogrom in Oudjda and the surrounding area. On June 7, 1948 43 Jews were killed by local Muslims whose frustration was enhanced by French Moroccan officials. [9]
Policy changed with the accession of Hassan II of Morocco in 1961. Hassan agreed to accept a large per-capita bounty from the international Jewish community for each Jew who emigrated from Morocco, and under this agreement Jews were allowed the freedom to emigrate. Between the years 1961–1967, around 120,000 Jews left Morocco. The Six-Day War in 1967 led to another wave of emigration of Jews from Morocco, primarily to France, but also to Canada, the United States, Israel and other countries. [10]
Moroccan Jews in Israel enjoyed less upward mobility: 51 percent were blue-collar in 1961 and 54 percent as late as 1981. [11]
In 1961 the ship Egoz ("nut"), which held 44 illegal immigrants, drowned in the sea on its way to Israel. After the sinking of Egoz, pressure was exerted on Morocco and a secret treaty was signed with King Hassan II and consequently a massive exodus of Jews from Casablanca port was carried out under the supervision of General Oufkir. Some Jews came to Israel and some migrated to France and other countries.[ citation needed ]
Politically, Moroccan Jews tend to support Likud [12] [13] or Shas.
The Jewish exodus from the Muslim world was the migration, departure, flight and expulsion of around 900,000 Jews from Arab countries and Iran, mainly from 1948 to the early 1970s, though with one final exodus from Iran in 1979–80 following the Iranian Revolution. An estimated 650,000 of the departees settled in Israel.
This is a list of notable events in the development of Jewish history. All dates are given according to the Common Era, not the Hebrew calendar.
Georgian Jews are a community of Jews who migrated to Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE. It is one of the oldest communities in that land.
The Jewish Agency for Israel, formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described as "the act of going up", moving to the Land of Israel or "making aliyah" is one of the most basic tenets of Zionism. The opposite action—emigration by Jews from the Land of Israel—is referred to in the Hebrew language as yerida. The Law of Return that was passed by the Israeli parliament in 1950 gives all diaspora Jews, as well as their children and grandchildren, the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship on the basis of connecting to their Jewish identity.
Yishuv, Ha-Yishuv, or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri denote the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 25,000 Jews living across the Land of Israel, and continued to be used until 1948, by which time there were some 630,000 Jews there. The term is still in use to denote the pre-1948 Jewish residents in the Land of Israel.
Maghrebi Jews or North African Jews are ethnic Jews who had traditionally lived in the Maghreb region of North Africa under Arab rule during the Middle Ages. Established Jewish communities had existed in North Africa long before the arrival of Sephardi Jews, expelled from Portugal and Spain. Due to proximity, the term 'Maghrebi Jews' sometimes refers to Egyptian Jews as well, even though there are important cultural differences between the history of Egyptian and Maghrebi Jews. These Jews originating from North Africa constitute the second largest Jewish diaspora group.
Mizrahi Jews, also known as Mizrahim (מִזְרָחִים) or Mizrachi (מִזְרָחִי) and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or Edot HaMizrach, are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained in the Land of Israel and those who existed in diaspora throughout and around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from biblical times into the modern era.
Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community. Before the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, there were about 265,000 Jews in the country, which gave Morocco the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, but by 2017 only 2,000 or so remain. Jews in Morocco, originally speakers of Berber languages, Judeo-Moroccan Arabic or Judaeo-Spanish, were the first in the country to adopt the French language in the mid-19th century, and unlike the Muslim population French remains the main language of members of the Jewish community there.
The First Aliyah, also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah) to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came mostly from Eastern Europe and from Yemen. An estimated 25,000 Jews immigrated. Many of the European Jewish immigrants during the late 19th-early 20th century period gave up after a few months and went back to their country of origin, often suffering from hunger and disease.
The Second Aliyah was an aliyah that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews immigrated into Ottoman-ruled Palestine, mostly from the Russian Empire, some from Yemen.
The 1970s Soviet Union aliyah was the mass immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel after the Soviet Union lifted its ban on Jewish refusenik emigration in 1971. More than 150,000 Soviet Jews immigrated during this period, motivated variously by religious or ideological aspiration, economic opportunity, and a desire to escape anti-Semitic discrimination.
Moroccan Jews are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were later met by a second wave of migrants from the Iberian peninsula in the period which immediately preceded and followed the issuing of the 1492 Alhambra Decree, when Jews were expelled from Spain, and soon afterward, from Portugal. This second wave of immigrants changed Moroccan Jewry, which largely embraced the Andalusian Sephardic liturgy, to switch to a mostly Sephardic identity.
Georgian Jews in Israel, also known as Gruzinim, are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Georgian Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 75,000 to 80,000.
Operation Yakhin was an operation to secretly emigrate Moroccan Jews to Israel, conducted by Israel's Mossad between November 1961 and spring 1964. About 97,000 left for Israel by plane and ship from Casablanca and Tangier via France and Italy.
Egoz was a ship that carried Jewish emigrants from Morocco to Israel, at a time when the immigration of Moroccan Jews to Israel was illegal under Moroccan law. The ship operated undercover, and gained fame after sinking on 10 January 1961, which resulted in the loss of 46 lives, 44 of them immigrants.
The migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel has been made all over the centuries. Moroccan Jews in Israel have been the founders of many pioneer neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias and others.
Israeli-Moroccan relations are the official relations between the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco. While Morocco did not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel until 2020, the relationship between the two was secretly maintained after the establishment of Israel in 1948. For many years, Moroccan King Hassan II facilitated the secret relationship with Israel, and it was considered instrumental in stabilizing Morocco and beating possible anti-royal threats within the country. The former secret relationship continued to play an important role in growing Israeli–Moroccan ties, despite the lack of formal relations until 2020. The Israeli passport is accepted for entry into Morocco with a visa granted on arrival. On 10 December 2020, Israel and Morocco agreed to establish diplomatic relations, becoming the sixth Arab league member to recognise Israel and the fourth in the space of four months, along with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan. It then communicated to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu its recognition of Israel.
The One Million Plan was a strategic plan for the immigration and absorption of one million Jews from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa into Mandatory Palestine, within a timeframe of 18 months, in order to establish a state in that territory. After being voted on by the Jewish Agency for Israel Executive in 1944, it became the official policy of the Zionist leadership. Implementation of a significant part of the One Million Plan took place following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
The history of the Jews in Paraguay has been characterised by migration of Jewish people, mainly from European countries, to the South American nation, and has resulted in the Jewish Paraguayan community numbering 1,000 today.
| Geography |
| ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary Afro-American diaspora |
| ||||||||||||||||||
