Greeks in Israel

Ethnic group

GreeksRegions with significant populations

Jerusalem · Nazareth · Bethlehem
Languages
Greek, Hebrew, Yevanic, and Ladino
Religion
Greek Orthodox Church, Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Greeks in Lebanon, Greeks in Turkey
Part of a series on

Greeks

* Etymology
* Greek names

By country

Native communities

* Greece
* Cyprus

* Albania
* Italy
* Russia and Ukraine
* Turkey

Greek diaspora

* Australia
* Melbourne
* Canada
* Toronto
* Germany
* United Kingdom
* United States

Groups by region

Modern Greece:

* Macedonians
* Sarakatsani
* Maniots
* Tsakonians

Constantinople and Asia Minor:

* Cappadocians
* Constantinopolitan Greeks
* Phanariots
* Karamanlides
* Pontic
* Caucasus
* Crimea

Africa:

* Egyptiots
* Ethiopian Greeks
* Sudanese Greeks

Other regions:

* Cypriots
* Griko
* Urums

Other groups:

* Aromanians
* Arvanites
* Megleno-Romanians
* Slavophones
* Souliotes

Greek culture

* Art
* Cinema
* Cuisine
* Dance
* Dress
* Education
* Flag
* Language
* Literature
* Music
* Politics
* Religion
* Sport
* Television
* Theatre

Religion

* Greek Orthodox Church
* Greek Roman Catholicism
* Greek Byzantine Catholicism
* Greek Evangelicalism
* Judaism
* Islam
* Hellenism

Languages and dialects

Greek:

* Australian
* Calabrian
* Cappadocian
* Constantinopolitan
* Cretan
* Cypriot
* Griko
* Hellenoromani
* Himariote
* Maniot
* Mariupol
* Pontic
* Tsakonian
* Yevanic
* Greeklish

Other languages

* Aromanian
* Arvanitika
* Greek Sign Language
* Karamanli Turkish
* Megleno-Romanian
* Slavic
* Urum

History of Greece
(Ancient · Byzantine · Ottoman)

* v
* t
* e

Greek Colony, Jerusalem

For millennia, the Greeks in Israel have been prominently present in the land. Greek expatriates comprise most of the leadership of the Eastern Greek Orthodox Church in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, in an arrangement that long predates the modern State of Israel.[1]

## History

[edit]

### Classic period

[edit]

In the late 330s BCE, Alexander the Great invaded the Middle East (including the area which is now Israel), during his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. The landscape during this period was markedly changed by extensive growth and development that included urban planning and the establishment of well-built fortified cities. Hellenistic pottery, trade and commerce flourished, particularly in the most Hellenized areas, such as Ashkelon, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Gaza, and ancient Nablus (Tell Balatah).[2]

When the Hasmonean Kingdom was absorbed into the Roman Empire, the area remained under the influence of the Greek language and culture. Especially during the Byzantine period, Palaestina reached its greatest prosperity in antiquity. Urbanization increased, large new areas were put under cultivation, monasteries proliferated and synagogues were restored. The cities of Palaestina Prima and Teria, such as Caesarea Maritima, Jerusalem, Scythopolis, Neapolis, and Gaza reached their peak population, and the population west of the Jordan may have reached as many as one million.

### Middle Ages

[edit]

Since the 7th century, when the Arabs conquered the region, the Greek presence was reduced.[citation needed] Today there is a slightly large Greek community in Israel.[citation needed] Also, there are Greeks in charge of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.[3] There is also a large number of Romaniote and Sephardic Greek Jews who emigrated from Greece and live now in Israel, some of whom made aliyah over the previous centuries, with most moving to Israel after Israeli independence[citation needed].

### Modern era

[edit]

The 1922 census of Palestine lists 1,315 Greek speakers in Mandatory Palestine (7 in Southern, 1,044 in Jerusalem-Jaffa, 19 in Samaria, and 245 in Northern), including 1,230 in municipal areas (760 in Jerusalem, 161 in Jaffa, 205 in Haifa, 4 in Gaza, 1 in Hebron, 6 in Nablus, 1 in Safad, 1 in Lydda, 12 in Nazareth, 20 in Ramleh, 1 in Tiberias, 29 in Bethlehem, 11 in Acre, 2 in Tulkarem, 1 in Ramallah, 4 in Beit Jala, 10 in Jenin, 1 in Beersheba, and 1 in Baisan).[4]

During the WWII some of the Greek community went to Greece voluntarily to fight against the Axis powers.[5]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Salamo Arouch, boxer
* Ofir Akunis, politician
* Yehuda Poliker, singer and musician
* Aris San, singer and nightclub owner who popularized Greek music in Israel
* Patriarch Irenaios
* Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem

## See also

[edit]

* Israel portal
* Greece portal

* History of the Jews in Greece
* Greek Colony, Jerusalem
* Greece–Israel relations
* Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
* Greek music in Israel
* Hellenistic Judaism

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Greek Catholic « See The Holy Land".
2. ^ "Palestine in the Hellenistic Age - My Jewish Learning". myjewishlearning.com. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
3. ^ "Πατριαρχείον Ιεροσολύμων". jerusalem-patriarchate.info. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
4. ^ Palestine Census ( 1922).
5. ^ "It's all Greek to me". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.

## External links

[edit]

* "Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III". Palestine-Israel Journal. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
* "Israel's International Relations:". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
* "Greeks in Israel - Greek expats in Israel". InterNations. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

* v
* t
* e

Greek diaspora (Omogenia)

Old Greek Diaspora|

* Asia Minor Greeks
* genocide
* population exchange
* pogrom
* expulsion
* massacre
* burning
* Egyptian Greeks
* expulsion
* Ukrainian Greeks
* evacuation
* Soviet Greeks
* deportation
* prison shootings

New Greek Diaspora|

* Greek Americans
* Boston
* Chicago
* New York City
* Greek Australians
* Melbourne
* Sydney
* Greek Canadians
* Toronto

Traditional areas of Greek settlement|

* Albania
* Bulgaria
* Caucasus
* Cyprus
* France
* Italy
* Malta
* North Macedonia
* Russia
* Turkey
* Ukraine

Europe|

* Austria
* Belgium
* Czechia
* Denmark
* France
* Germany
* Hungary
* Moldova
* Netherlands
* Poland
* Romania
* Serbia
* Sweden
* United Kingdom

Caucasus|

* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Georgia

Central Asia|

* Kazakhstan
* Kyrgyzstan
* Uzbekistan

Middle East|

* Israel
* Lebanon
* Syria
* United Arab Emirates

Africa|

* D.R. Congo
* Ethiopia
* South Africa
* Sudan
* South Sudan
* Zimbabwe

Latin America|

* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Brazil
* Chile
* Mexico
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Asia-Pacific|

* New Zealand
* Philippines

* Hellenization
* Greek colonization
* Hellenistic world

* v
* t
* e

Demographics of Israel

Israelis by religion|

* Judaism
* Rabbinic
* Conservative
* Reform
* Karaite
* Haymanot
* Islam
* Sunni
* Shia
* Ahmadiyya
* Christianity
* Eastern Orthodox
* Catholic
* Protestant
* Druzism1
* Samaritanism
* Bahai
* Hinduism
* Buddhism

Jews|

* Ashkenazim
* Romanian
* Russian
* Mizrahim
* Bukharan
* Iraqi
* Iranian
* Kurdish
* Moroccan
* Mountain Jews
* Yemenite
* Sephardim
* Bulgarian
* Moroccan
* Turkish
* Karaites
* Romaniotes
* Italkim
* Gruzinim
* Indian
* Cochin
* Bene Israel
* Bnei Menashe
* Bene Ephraim
* Ethiopian
* Beta Israel
* Falash Mura

Arabs|

* Arab Muslims
* Madani and Fellahin
* Bedouin
* Galilee
* Negev
* Arab Christians
* Druze1
* Lebanese

Other Semitic|

* Assyrians
* Samaritans
* Arameans2
* Maronites
* Lebanese

Other non-Semitic groups|

* African Americans
* Armenians
* Dutch
* Indians
* Russians
* Subbotniks
* Circassians
* Bosniaks
* Vietnamese

Foreign nationals|

* African-American Hebrews
* Argentines
* Chileans
* Chinese
* Filipinos
* Greeks
* Turks
* Kurds
* Mexicans
* Palestinians
* Doms (Gypsy)
* Sudanese

* 1 Druze have a status aparte from Muslim Arabs in Israel, since 1957.
* 2 Arameans have a status aparte from Christian Arabs in Israel, since 2014.

* v
* t
* e

Greeks in Asia

Sovereign states|

* Afghanistan
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* China
* Cyprus
* Egypt
* Georgia
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Israel
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Laos
* Lebanon
* Malaysia
* Maldives
* Mongolia
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Philippines
* Qatar
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Sri Lanka
* Syria
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Timor-Leste (East Timor)
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam
* Yemen

States with
limited recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Northern Cyprus
* Palestine
* South Ossetia
* Taiwan

Dependencies and
other territories|

* British Indian Ocean Territory
* Christmas Island
* Cocos (Keeling) Islands
* Hong Kong
* Macau

* Category
* Asia portal

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template