| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 150,000 - 300,000 [1] [2] [3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mainly Jerusalem, also Tel Aviv and many other places. | |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew (Main language for all generations); Older generation: Kurdish language, Judeo-Aramaic | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
 |
Kurdish Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Kurdish Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number between 150,000 and 300,000. [4] [5] [6]
Immigration of Kurdish Jews to the Land of Israel initiated during the late 16th century, with a community of rabbinic scholars arriving to Safed, Galilee, and a Kurdish Jewish quarter had been established there as a result. The thriving period of Safed however ended in 1660, with Druze power struggles in the region and an economic decline.
Many Kurdish Jews, especially the ones who hail from Iraq, went through a Sephardic Jewish blending during the 18th century. [7]
Since the early 20th century, some Kurdish Jews had been active in the Zionist movement. One of the most famous members of Lehi (Freedom Fighters of Israel) was Moshe Barazani, whose family immigrated from Iraq and settled in Jerusalem in the late 1920s. In 1939, there were 4,369 in Jerusalem, growing to 30,000 in 1972. [8]
The vast majority of Kurdish Jews were forced out by Iraqi authorities, being evacuated to Israel in the early 1950s, together with other Iraqi Jewish community. The vast majority of the Kurdish Jews of Iranian Kurdistan relocated mostly to Israel as well, in the 1950s. [9]
The Times of Israel reported on September 30, 2013: "Today, there are almost 200,000 Kurdish Jews in Israel, about half of whom live in Jerusalem. There are also over 30 agricultural villages throughout the country that were founded by Kurdish Jews." [10] Today, the large majority of the Jews of "Kurdistan" and their descendants live in Israel.
Zakho, also spelled Zaxo is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Iraq–Turkey border.
The history of the Jews in Iraq is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BCE. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities.
The Jews of Kurdistan are the Mizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities until they were expelled from Arab and Muslim states from the 1940s–1950s onward. The community largely spoke Judeo-Aramaic. As Kurdish Jews natively adhere to Judaism and originate from the Middle East, Mizrahi Hebrew is used for liturgy. Many Kurdish Jews, especially the ones who hail from Iraq, went through a Sephardic Jewish blending during the 18th century.
Asenath Barzani, was a Kurdish Jewish female rabbinical scholar and poet who lived near Duhok, Kurdistan.
Moshe Barazani, also Barzani was an Iraqi-born Kurdish Jew and a member of Lehi underground movement in pre-state Mandate Palestine during the Jewish insurgency in Palestine. He is most notable for having died by suicide with a hand grenade together with Meir Feinstein, another Jewish underground fighter under sentence of death, shortly before their scheduled executions, and is memorialized in Israel today as one of the Olei Hagardom.
The State of Israel and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq maintain a close informal relationship, but do not have formal diplomatic missions in each other's territory. Their ties are rooted in Israel's historically strong support for the Kurdish people and their long-running desire for self-determination and national independence in Kurdistan. In 1992, shortly after Iraq lost the Gulf War, the Kurdistan Region was recognized as an autonomous entity and began governing a portion of Iraqi Kurdistan, marking a significant development in the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict. The Iraqi government and the Kurdish government have differing policies with regard to the entry of Israeli citizens into their territory: Kurdish authorities accept Israeli passports at Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, and Israelis are entitled to regular freedom of movement throughout the Kurdistan Region; but Iraqi authorities do not accept Israeli passports, and Israelis are forbidden from entering Iraq proper. Residents of the Kurdistan Region are bound by the Iraqi passport, which prohibits all travel to Israel. This is due to the fact that Iraq, which has been a party to the Arab–Israeli conflict since Israel's founding in 1948, does not recognize Israeli sovereignty.
Iraq–Israel relations refer to the bilateral ties between the State of Israel and the Republic of Iraq. Due to Iraq's non-recognition of Israel as a legitimate state since the latter's establishment in 1948, the two countries have not had any formal diplomatic relations. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was a part of the Arab coalition that declared war on and invaded Israel shortly after its establishment, sparking the First–Arab Israeli War, and the two states have since then been in a continuous state of hostilities. Iraqi forces also participated in the Third Arab–Israeli War and the Fourth Arab–Israeli War in 1967 and 1973, respectively.
Barzani is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The problem of Kurdish refugees and displaced people arose in the 20th century in the Middle East, and continues today. The Kurds, are an ethnic group in Western Asia, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
The main religions that exist or historically existed in Kurdistan are as follows: Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Alevism and Judaism. Overall today, Sunni Islam is the most adhered to religion in Kurdistan.
Mordechai Zaken also Moti Zaken was a historian and the 2019 laureate of "the Prime Minister Prize for the research of the Jews of the Orient." He was an expert on the Kurds and Middle Eastern minorities both as academic – he was historian of the Jews, the Kurds in Kurdistan and as professional - serving as the advisor on Israeli Arabs and minorities to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (1997–1999), and to the Ministry of Public Security from 2001.
Iraqi Jews in Israel, also known as the Bavlim, are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Iraqi Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 450,000.
Itzhak "Itzik" Kala is an Israeli singer of Kurdish-Jewish descent who sings in Aramaic, Kurdish and Hebrew. He has released over 30 studio albums.
The Israel-Kurdistan Friendship League, possibly the first friendship association between Jews and Israelis and Muslim community in an Arab country was established in 1994 in Jerusalem, by several Israeli and Jewish activists of Kurdish origin or interest. The founder was Mordechai Zaken and the main activists who worked together were the late Moshe Zaken, a business man from Jerusalem, Meir Baruch, a retired military person, Michael Niebur who spent some time in NGOs helping the Kurds, and Mathew B. Hand an American who promoted activity of coexistence with Muslims. The response of Kurdish representatives and organizations both in Kurdistan and the diaspora was enthusiastic as can be judged from hundreds of letters, phone calls and also email received in Jerusalem within short time after the announcement of its founding in the world press and in The Voice of America in the Kurdish language, which conducted interviews with the founder, Mordechai Zaken. The League also published a newsletter called yedidut carrying the message of Israeli and Jewish friendship to Kurds worldwide.
Kurds in Israel refers to people of Kurdish origin residing in Israel. The Kurdish population in Israel is small and is mainly composed of individuals and families, who fled Iraq and Turkey during the Iraqi–Kurdish and the Kurdish–Turkish conflicts during the 20th century, as well as temporal residents arriving in Israel for medical care.
Ezekiel Judah or Yehezkel Yehuda or Yahuda or Ezekiel Judah Jacob Sliman was a Jewish communal leader, trader of indigo, muslin, and silk, philanthropist, and talmudist of Baghdad. He migrated to India, leading the Baghdadi Jewish community of Kolkata in his lifetime and establishing the city's first synagogues.
Seharane, also spelled Seharaneh, is a multi-day festival celebrated by Kurdish Jews. Although traditionally observed following Passover, in Israel today the festival is observed during the intermediate days of Sukkot.
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