Russian Jews in Israel

Diaspora Jews from the former Soviet Union in Israel

See also: Russians in Israel

Ethnic group

Russian Jews in IsraelTotal population

900,000 (core)[1] 1,544,000 (enlarged)
Regions with significant populations
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and many other places
Languages
Hebrew, Russian language
Religion
mostly Secular Judaism[2]

Russian Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Russian Jewish communities, who now reside within the State of Israel. They were around 900,000 in 2007.[1]

## Immigration history

[edit]

Main articles: 1970s Soviet Union aliyah and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah

Immigration to Israel[3]

Total Immigrants

Immigrants from the USSR and Post-Soviet states

The largest number of Russian Jews now live in Israel. Israel is home to a core Russian-Jewish population of 900,000, and an enlarged population of 1,544,000 (including halakhically non-Jewish members of Jewish households, but excluding those who reside in Israel illegally).[4][failed verification] The Aliyah in the 1990s accounts for 85–90% of this population.

The population growth rate for Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants were among the lowest for any Israeli groups, with a fertility rate of 1.70 and natural increase of just +0.5% per year.[5] The increase in Jewish birth rate in Israel during the 2000–2007 period was partly due to the increasing birth rate among the FSU immigrants, who now form 20% of the Jewish population of Israel.[6][7] 96.5% of the enlarged Russian Jewish population in Israel is either Jewish or non-religious, while 3.5% (35,000) belongs to other religions (mostly Christians) and about 10,000 so-called "messianic Jews".[8]

Year  | TFR

|

2000  | 1.544
1999  | 1.612
1998  | 1.632
1997  | 1.723
1996  | 1.743
1995  | 1.731
1994  | 1.756
1993  | 1.707
1992  | 1.604
1991  | 1.398
1990  | 1.390

The Total Fertility Rate for FSU immigrants in Israel is given in the table below. The TFR increased with time, peaking in 1997, then slightly decreased after that, and then again increased after 2000.[5]

In 1999, about 1,037,000 FSU immigrants lived in Israel, of whom about 738,900 immigrated after 1989.[9][10] The second largest ethnic group (Moroccans) numbered just 1,000,000. From 2000–2006, 142,638 FSU immigrants moved to Israel. While 70,000 of them emigrated from Israel to countries like the U.S. and Canada, bringing the total population to 1,150,000 by 2007 January (excluding illegals).[1] The natural increase was around 0.3% in late 1990s. For example 2,456 in 1996 (7,463 births to 5,007 deaths), 2,819 in 1997 (8,214 to 5,395), 2,959 in 1998 (8,926 to 5,967) and 2,970 in 1999 (9,282 to 6,312). In 1999, the natural growth was +0.385%. (Figures only for FSU immigrants moved in after 1989).[11]

An estimated 45,000 illegal immigrants from the Former Soviet Union lived in Israel during the end of 2010, but it is not clear how many of them are actually Jews.[12]

Currently, Russia has the highest rate of aliyah to Israel among any other country. In 2013, 7,520 people, nearly 40% of all olim, immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union.[13][14]

As of 2018, USSR Jews are estimated to be 12.4% of the Israeli population.[15]

## Political history

[edit]

Soviet flag on a building in Hadar HaCarmel, a Haifa district known for its large Russian Jewish population

Russian Jews have been very dominant in Israeli politics, due to large number of Russian Jews occupied in the official positions of Israeli Government. Former Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, was born in former Soviet Union's Moldova.[16] Many Russian Jews maintain their ties with Russia, and play an important role in the relationship between Russia and Israel.

## Demographics

[edit]

Russian-speaking Jews in Israel include an enlarged population of 1,544,000, if including halakhically non-Jewish members of Jewish households. 96.5% of the enlarged Russian Jewish population in Israel is either Jewish or non-religious, while 3.5% (35,000) belong to other religions (mostly Christianity) and about 10,000 identifying as Messianic Jews separate from Jewish Christians.[17]

### Core Jewish population

[edit]

Soviet and Russian-origin Jews form a core population of around 900,000 in Israel, as of 2007.[1]

### Mixed families

[edit]

Main article: Russians in Israel

As of 2003, approximately 300,000 halakhically non-Jewish members of Jewish households lived in Israel.[4]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Natan Sharansky
* Yuri Foreman
* Yuri Stern
* Yuli Edelstein
* Yoel Razvozov
* Vladimir Beliak
* Evgeny Sova
* Alex Kushnir
* Elina Bardach-Yalov
* Tania Mazarsky
* Yulia Malinovsky
* Nachman Dushanski
* Boris Gelfand
* Alexander Goldstein
* Natasha Mozgovaya
* Avigdor Lieberman
* Anastassia Michaeli
* Haim Megrelashvili
* Victor Mikhalevski
* Evgeny Postny
* Maxim Rodshtein
* Tatiana Zatulovskaya
* Maria Gorokhovskaya
* Katia Pisetsky
* Aleksandr Averbukh
* Anna Smashnova
* Jan Talesnikov
* Vadim Alexeev
* Michael Kolganov
* Alexander Danilov
* Evgenia Linetskaya
* Marina Kravchenko
* David Kazhdan
* Leonid Nevzlin
* Vadim Akolzin
* Roman Bronfman
* Michael Cherney
* Victoria Veinberg Filanovsky
* Sergei Sakhnovski
* Roman Zaretski
* Alexandra Zaretski
* Larisa Trembovler
* Boris Tsirelson
* Daniel Samohin
* Margarita Levieva
* Anna Zak
* Diana Golbi
* Arkadi Duchin
* Arcadi Gaydamak
* Neta Rivkin
* Artem Dolgopyat
* Eliezer Sherbatov
* Dina Rubina

## See also

[edit]

* Aliyah
* Refusenik
* 1970s Soviet Union aliyah
* 1990s Post-Soviet aliyah
* Russian language in Israel
* History of the Jews in Russia
* Jewish ethnic divisions
* Israel–Russia relations
* Russians in Israel

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Monthly Bulletin of Statistics". Cbs.gov.il. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
2. ^ "Israeli Jews from the former Soviet Union are more secular, less religiously observant". Pew Research Center. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
3. ^ "Total Immigration to Israel from the Former Soviet Union". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
4. ^ a b Altschul, Mark J. (April 21, 2003). "Israel's Law of Return and the debate of altering, repealing, or maintaining its present language" (PDF). University of Illinois Law Review.
5. ^ a b "Fertility behaviour of recent immigrants to Israel: A comparative analysis of immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-03-22.
6. ^ Wayne State University Press – Jewish Studies: – Page 1 Archived 2008-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ "Jewish Zionist Education" (PDF). Jafi.org.il. 2005-05-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
8. ^ "Monthly Bulletin of Statistics". Cbs.gov.il. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
9. ^ Nurit Yaffe. "Population" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-02-21.
10. ^ "IMMIGRANT POPULATION FROM USSR (FORMER)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
11. ^ "Mmigrant Population From The Former Ussr". .cbs.gov.il. Archived from the original on 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
12. ^ Friedman, Ron (2011-01-18). "Oz unit far from hitting deportation target for illegals". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
13. ^ "Aliyah on the Rise: 19,200 New Immigrants Arrive in Israel in 2013". Algemeiner. December 30, 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
14. ^ "Immigration to Israel Rises by 7% — Led by French". Forward. December 29, 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
15. ^ Lewin-Epstein, Noah. "Ethnic origin and identity in the Jewish population of Israel" (PDF). Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
16. ^ "Avigdor Lieberman". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
17. ^ "Monthly Bulletin of Statistics". Cbs.gov.il. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved March 22, 2011.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Marina Fedorova, Jews in Russia and Russians in Israel , doi:10.1215/9781478003342-013, chapter from From Russia with Code: Programming Migrations in Post-Soviet Times, 2019

In this chapter, Marina Fedorova discusses the issues of adaptation of Soviet (indiscriminately called "Russian") Jewish hi-tech engineers immigrated to Israel.

* v
* t
* e

Refusenik movement and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah

(c. 1970 – 2000)

Background|

| Causes|

* The Holocaust
* Antisemitism in the Soviet Union
* Joseph Stalin
* Zionism
* Six-Day War
* Emigration from the Eastern Bloc
* Slánský trial
* Anti-cosmopolitan campaign

|

Jewish groups|

* Ashkenazim
* Mountain Jews
* Karaim
* Krymchaks
* Bukharan Jews
* Georgian Jews

Events|

* Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair
* 1970s aliyah
* Jackson–Vanik amendment
* Helsinki Accords
* Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews
* Operation Solomon
* Dissolution of the Soviet Union

People|

| Soviet Union
Commonwealth of Independent States|

| Pro-government/antisemitic|

* Leonid Brezhnev
* Yuri Andropov
* Mikhail Gorbachev
* Mikhail Suslov
* David Dragunsky
* Yakov Fishman
* Adolf Shayevich
* Emomali Rahmon

|

Jewish|

* Ida Nudel
* Natan Sharansky
* Yuli Edelstein
* Eduard Kuznetsov
* Iosif Begun

United States|

* Jimmy Carter
* Ronald Reagan
* George H. W. Bush
* George Shultz
* Henry M. Jackson
* Charles Vanik
* Menachem Mendel Schneerson
* Meir Kahane

Israel|

* Golda Meir
* Yitzhak Rabin
* Shimon Peres
* Menachem Begin
* Yitzhak Shamir
* Benjamin Netanyahu
* Simcha Dinitz
* Avraham Burg
* Nehemiah Levanon
* Yehuda Lapidot

Other|

| Pro-Soviet|

* Władysław Gomułka

|

Pro-Jewish|

* Nicolae Ceaușescu

Organisations|

| Soviet Union|

* Communist Party of the Soviet Union
* Communist Party of the Russian Federation
* Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public
* Moscow Helsinki Group
* Pamyat

|

United States|

* Jewish Defense League
* American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
* Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
* National Coalition Supporting Soviet Jewry

Israel|

* Nativ
* Jewish Agency

Aftermath|

* Russian Jews in Israel
* Yisrael BaAliyah
* Channel 9

* v
* t
* e

Israeli Jews by geographic origin in the Jewish diaspora

Ashkenazi Jews|

* Argentine Jews
* Australian Jews
* Romanian Jews
* Russian Jews
* South African Jews
* Uruguayan Jews
* Venezuelan Jews

Mizrahi Jews|

* Yemenite Jews
* Moroccan Jews
* Kurdish Jews
* Iranian Jews
* Bukharan Jews
* Mountain Jews
* Georgian Jews
* Iraqi Jews

Sephardi Jews|

* Bulgarian Jews
* Moroccan Jews
* Peruvian Jews (Iquitos)
* Turkish Jews

Other Jewish groups|

* Ethiopian Jews
* French Jews
* Indian Jews
* Pakistani Jews
* Peruvian Jews (B'nai Moshe)

Non-Jewish groups (with Jewish minorities)|

* Dutch Israelis

Related topics|

* Aliyah
* Sabra
* Israelis abroad
* "Reverse Aliyah"
* Historical Jewish population comparisons

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