Bulgarian Jews in Israel
Bulgarian Jews in Israel are Jewish immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Bulgarian Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 75,000 in the wider definition, and 7,500 in the narrower scope (those with Bulgarian citizenship).[1]
Total population | |
---|---|
75,000 (Bulgarian citizens)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv | |
Languages | |
Hebrew (Main language for all generations); Older generation: Ladino, Bulgarian | |
Religion | |
Judaism |
History
After the establishment of the state of Israel, most of the Bulgarian Jewish population left for Israel, leaving only about a thousand Bulgarian Jews living in Bulgaria today (1,162 according to the 2011 census). According to Israeli government statistics, 43,961 people from Bulgaria emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 2006, making Bulgarian Jews in Israel the fourth largest group to come from a European country, after the Soviet Union, Romania and Poland.[2] The current population estimates are 48,900 Jews born or with a father born in Bulgaria or Greece. 32,000 Jews with a Bulgarian- or Greek-born father. 17,000 Bulgarian- and Greek-born Jews.[3]
Notable people
- Binyamin Arditi
- Gabi Ashkenazi
- Menachem Ashkenazi
- Michael Bar-Zohar
- Shimon Bejarano
- Albert Cohen
- Ya'akov Eilon
- Moshe Gueron
- Shlomo Kalo
- Rafael Moshe Kamhi
- Oshrat Kotler
- Shabtai Konorti
- Shmuel Levi
- Raphael Mechoulam
- Moni Moshonov
- Ya'akov Nehoshtan
- Ya'akov Nitzani
- Avraham Ofek
- Israel Pincas
- David Primo
- Albert Salomon
- Victor Shem-Tov
- Rachamim Talbi
- Rami Yosifov
- Daniel Zion
- Emanuel Zisman
See also
- Aliyah
- History of the Jews in Bulgaria
- Jewish ethnic divisions
- Bulgaria–Israel relations
References
- State agency for Bulgatian citizens abroad
- "Immigrants by period if immigration, country of birth and last country of residence" (in Hebrew and English). The Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel). Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2009, CBS. "Table 2.24 – Jews, by country of origin and age" (PDF). Retrieved 22 March 2010.