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Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Mizrahi and Ethiopian Jews
The Jewish world is more ethnically and racially diverse than many people realize.
By
Rabbi Rachel M. Solomin
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For most Americans, traditional Jewish culture summons up images of Passover seders with steaming bowls of matzah ball soup, black-hatted, pale-skinned Hasidic men, and Yiddish-speaking bubbes (grandmothers) and zeydes (grandfathers). In reality, these snapshots represent only one Jewish ethnic group — Ashkenazi — of many.
Shared Jewish history, rituals, laws, and values unify an international Jewish community. However, the divergent histories of Jewish communities and their contacts with other cultural influences distinguish Jewish ethnic groups from one another, giving each a unique way of being Jewish. In addition, thanks to intermarriage, conversion and interracial adoption growing numbers of American Jews are of color and have Latino, Asian or African-American ancestry.
Worldwide, Jews from distinct geographic regions vary greatly in their diet, language, dress, and folk customs. Most pre-modern Diaspora communities are categorized into three major ethnic groups (in Hebrew, sometimes called eidot, “communities”):
- Ashkenazim, the Jews of Germany and Northern France (in Hebrew, Ashkenaz)
- Sephardim, the Jews of Iberia (in Hebrew, Sepharad) and the Spanish diaspora
- Mizrahim, or Oriental Jews
- Ethiopian Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
The Jewish ethnic identity most readily recognized by North Americans — the culture of matzah balls , black-hatted Hasidim, and Yiddish — originated in medieval Germany. Although strictly speaking, “Ashkenazim” refers to Jews of Germany, the term has come to refer more broadly to Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. Jews first reached the interior of Europe by following trade routes along waterways during the eighth and ninth centuries.
Eventually, the vast majority of Ashkenazim relocated to the Polish Commonwealth (today’s Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Belarus), where princes welcomed their skilled and educated workforce. The small preexistent Polish Jewish community’s customs were displaced by the Ashkenazic prayer order, customs, and Yiddish language.
Jewish life and learning thrived in northeastern Europe. The yeshiva culture of Poland, Russia, and Lithuania produced a constant stream of new talmudic scholarship. In 18th-century Germany, the Haskalah movement advocated for modernization, introducing the modern denominations and institutions of secular Jewish culture.
Although the first American Jews were Sephardic, today Ashkenazim are the most populous ethnic group in North America. The modern religious denominations developed in Ashkenazic countries, and therefore most North American synagogues use the Ashkenazic liturgy.
Sephardic Jews
Many historical documents recount a large population of Jews in Spain during the early years of the Common Era. Their cultural distinctiveness is characterized in Roman writings as a “corrupting” influence. Later, with the arrival of Christianity, Jewish legal authorities became worried about assimilation and maintaining Jewish identity. Despite these concerns, by the seventh century Sephardim had flourished, beginning a time known as the “ Golden Age of Spain .”
During this period, Sephardic Jews reached the highest echelons of secular government and the military. Many Jews gained renown in non-Jewish circles as poets, scholars, and physicians. New forms of Hebrew poetry arose, and talmudic and halakhic (Jewish law) study took on great sophistication.
Ladino , the Judeo-Spanish language, unified Jews throughout the peninsula in daily life, ritual, and song. Ladino, a blend of medieval Spanish with significant loan words from Hebrew, Arabic, and Portuguese, had both a formal, literary dialect, and numerous daily, spoken dialects which evolved during the immigrations of Sephardic Jews to new lands.
The Sephardic Golden Age ended when Christian princes consolidated their kingdoms and reestablished Christian rule throughout Spain and Portugal. In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled all Jews from Spain ; soon after, a similar law exiled Jews from Portugal. Sephardic Jews immigrated to Amsterdam, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Others established new communities in the Americas or converted publicly to Christianity, sometimes secretly maintaining a Jewish life. These converts (known in Ladino as conversos and in Hebrew as anusim, forced converts) often maintained their Judaism in secret. In the 21st century, there are still people in both Europe and the Americas who are discovering and reclaiming their Jewish ancestry.
Wherever Sephardic Jews traveled, they brought with them their unique ritual customs, language, arts, and architecture. Sephardic synagogues often retain the influence of Islam in their architecture by favoring geometric, calligraphic, and floral decorative motifs. Although they may align with the Ashkenazic religious denominations (usually Orthodoxy), the denominational identity of Sephardic synagogues is, in most cases, less strong than their ethnic identity.
At home, Ladino songs convey family traditions at the Shabbat table, although Ladino is rapidly disappearing from daily use. Sephardic Jews often maintain unique holiday customs, such as a seder for Rosh Hashanah that includes a series of special foods eaten as omens for a good new year and the eating of rice and legumes (kitniyot) on Passover.
Mizrahi Jews
Although often confused with Sephardic Jews (because they share many religious customs), Mizrahi Jews have a separate heritage. Mizrahi (in Hebrew, “Eastern” or “Oriental”) Jews come from Middle Eastern ancestry . Their earliest communities date from Late Antiquity, and the oldest and largest of these communities were in modern Iraq (Babylonia), Iran (Persia), and Yemen.
Today, most Mizrahi Jews live either in Israel or the United States. In their new homes, Mizrahi Jews are more likely than other Jews to maintain particularly strong ties with others from their family’s nation of origin. Thus, it is not uncommon to find a specifically Persian or Bukharan synagogue. Likewise, Mizrahi Jews are not united by a single Jewish language; each subgroup spoke its own tongue.
The unique Mizrahi culture has penetrated Israeli mainstream society in recent years. Yemenite music entered the pop scene with Ofra Haza , who blended traditional instruments, rhythms, and lyrics with modern flair. Yemenite silversmiths create sacred objects used by Jews of all backgrounds. “Mizrahi” restaurants — where large platters of skewered meat and breads and bowl upon bowl of salads and condiments are shared by a group — have become fashionable gathering places in Israel.
Despite these trends, Jewish ethnic barriers remain strong. In Israel, Ashkenazic Jews still dominate leadership roles in public institutions. For much of Israel’s history, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews were disproportionately underrepresented in the government. Yet now, they make up more than half of the population.
Ethiopian Jews
A Jewish community in Ethiopia — the Beta Israel (House of Israel) — has existed for at least 15 centuries.
Because of low literacy levels, a tendency to rely on oral traditions and nomadic lifestyles among most Ethiopians prior to the 20th century, historic material about this community is scant and unreliable.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews emigrated to Israel, leaving behind a very small community. Learn more about Ethiopian Israelis here.
Jewish Diversity Still Matters
Many Jews today live a multi-layered Jewish existence. Some Ethiopian Jews attend Hasidic yeshivas, and some Sephardic Jews enjoy matzah ball soup at their Passover seders. Jews from all backgrounds often borrow each other’s cultural traditions. Many populous Jewish communities have a diverse range of ethnicities, and that diversity presents itself even within individual families.
Though some of these cultural divides have healed — partially due to the increase in marriages among members of different ethnic groups — ethnicity is still highly relevant in Israeli society. For example, the public school curriculum over-represents Ashkenazic cultural achievements and history. At least one study recently reported that Mizrahi Jews are still half as likely to attend universities as Ashkenazi Jews.
Massive economic disparities exist among different communities, since Mizrahi immigrants frequently were brought to Israel by emergency airlifts, arriving with minimal property or wealth. Partially as a way to combat these discrepancies, Israeli political parties are often formed along ethnic lines, such as Shas (Sephardic), Agudas Israel (Ashkenazic), and Atid Ehad (Ethiopian Jews).
Some Jews protect their ethnic identity in other ways. Religious Jews will follow the customs of their ancestors in both their homes and synagogues. Others consciously study their traditional Jewish language, whether Yiddish, Ladino, or Farsi (Persian) and join social clubs based on their ethnic heritage. In North America, where secular schools often celebrate multiculturalism, Jewish supplemental and day schools have begun to include Jewish ethnic diversity in their curricula. Indeed Jewish ethnicity becomes a way to trace the course of Jewish history.
Ashkenazi
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Pronounced: AHSH-ken-AH-zee, Origin: Hebrew, Jews of Central and Eastern European origin.
Hasidic
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Pronounced: khah-SID-ik, Origin: Hebrew, a stream within ultra-Orthodox Judaism that grew out of an 18th-century mystical revival movement.
Mizrahi
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Pronounced: meez-RAH-khee, Origin: Hebrew for Eastern, used to describe Jews of Middle Eastern descent, such as Jews from Iraq and Syria.
Sephardic
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Pronounced: seh-FAR-dik, Origin: Hebrew, describing Jews descending from the Jews of Spain.
Shabbat
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Pronounced: shuh-BAHT or shah-BAHT, Origin: Hebrew, the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
yeshiva
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Pronounced: yuh-SHEE-vuh or yeh-shee-VAH, Origin: Hebrew, a traditional religious school, where students mainly study Jewish texts.
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Mizrahi Jews
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3.5 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Middle East | [ citation needed ] |
 Israel | 3,200,000 |
 Iran | 8,756 (2012) [1] |
 Egypt | 200 (2008) [2] |
 Yemen | 50 (2016) [3] |
 Iraq | 8 in Baghdad (2008) [4] 400–730 families in Iraqi Kurdistan (2015) [5] |
 Syria | >20 (2015) [6] |
 Lebanon | <100 (2012) [7] |
 Bahrain | 37 (2010) [8] |
| Central and South Asia | [ citation needed ] |
 Kazakhstan | 15,000 |
 Uzbekistan | 12,000 |
 Kyrgyzstan | 1,000 |
 Tajikistan | 100 |
| Europe and Eurasia | [ citation needed ] |
 Russia | Over 30,000 |
 Azerbaijan | 11,000 |
 Georgia | 8,000 |
 United Kingdom * | 7,000 |
 Belgium * | 800 |
 Spain * | 701 |
 Armenia | 100 |
 Turkey | 100 |
| East and Southeast Asia | [ citation needed ] |
 Hong Kong [9] | 420 |
 Philippines | 150 |
 Japan | 109 |
 China | 90 |
| The Americas | [ citation needed ] |
 United States | 250,000 |
 Brazil | 7,000 |
 Canada | 3,522 |
 Argentina | 2,000 |
| Oceania | [ citation needed ] |
 Australia | 1,000 |
| Languages | |
| |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ashkenazi Jews , Maghrebi Jews , Arabs , Assyrians , Sephardi Jews , other Jewish ethnic divisions . | |
* denotes the country as a member of the EU | |
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Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahim ( Hebrew :
מִזְרָחִים), also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח; “Communities of the East”; Mizrahi Hebrew: ʿEdot(h) Ha(m)Mizraḥ), Bene HaMizrah (“Sons of the East”), or Oriental Jews, [10] are descendants of local Jewish communities in the Middle East from biblical times into the modern era. They include descendants of Babylonian Jews and Mountain Jews from modern Iraq , Syria , Bahrain , Kuwait , Dagestan , Azerbaijan , Iran , Uzbekistan , the Caucasus , Kurdistan , Afghanistan , India , and Pakistan . Yemenite Jews , as well as North African Jews are sometimes also included, but their histories are separate from Babylonian Jewry.
The use of the term Mizrahi can be somewhat controversial. The term Mizrahim is sometimes applied to descendants of Maghrebi and Sephardi Jews , who had lived in North Africa ( Egypt , Libya , Tunisia , Algeria , and Morocco ), the Sephardi-proper communities of Turkey , and the mixed Levantine communities of Lebanon , Israel , and Syria . Before the establishment of the state of Israel , Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate Jewish subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi, as they follow the traditions of Sephardi Judaism (but with some differences among the minhag “customs” of particular communities). That has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel and in religious usage, with “Sephardi” being used in a broad sense and including Mizrahi Jews and North African Jews as well as Sephardim proper. From the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel .
As of 2005, 61% of Israeli Jews were of full or partial Mizrahi ancestry. [11]
Contents
- 1 Usage
- 2 Religious rite designations
- 3 Language
- 3.1 Arabic
- 3.2 Aramaic
- 3.3 Persian and other languages
- 4 Migration
- 4.1 Post-1948 dispersal
- 4.2 Absorption into Israeli society
- 4.2.1 Disparities and integration
- 5 Notable Mizrahim
- 5.1 Business people
- 5.2 Entertainers
- 5.3 Scientists and Nobel prize laureates
- 5.4 Inventors
- 5.5 Politicians and military
- 5.6 Religious figures
- 5.7 Sportspeople
- 5.8 Visual arts
- 5.9 Writers and academics
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 7.1 Bibliography
- 8 External links
- 8.1 Organizations
- 8.2 Articles
- 8.3 Communities
Usage[ edit ]
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“Mizrahi” is literally translated as “Oriental”, “Eastern”, מזרח Mizraḥ, Hebrew for “east”. In Arabic, “Misr” means Egypt; and that is also the term used for Egypt in the Bible. In the past the word “Mizrahim”, corresponding to the Arabic word Mashriqiyyun (Easterners), referred to the natives of Kurdistan, Iraq and other Asian countries, as distinct from those of North Africa ( Maghribiyyun ). In medieval and early modern times, the corresponding Hebrew word ma’arav was used for North Africa. In Talmudic and Geonic times, however, this word “ma’arav” referred to the land of Israel, as contrasted with Babylonia. For this reason, many object to the use of “Mizrahi” to include Moroccan and other North African Jews.
The term Mizrahim or Edot Hamizraḥ, Oriental communities, grew in Israel under the circumstances of the meeting of waves of Jewish immigrants from Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, followers of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Temani (Yemenite) rites. In modern Israeli usage, it refers to all Jews from Central and West Asian countries, many of them Arabic-speaking Muslim-majority countries. The term came to be widely used more by Mizrahi activists in the early 1990s. Since then in Israel it has become an accepted semi-official and media designation. [12]
Most of the “Mizrahi” activists actually originated from North African Jewish communities, traditionally called “Westerners” (Maghrebi), rather than “Easterners” (Mashreqi). Many Jews originated from Arab and Muslim countries today reject “Mizrahi” (or any) umbrella description, and prefer to identify themselves by their particular country of origin, or that of their immediate ancestors, e. g., “Moroccan Jew”, or prefer to use the old term “Sephardi” in its broader meaning.[ citation needed ] Some modern Arab Muslims and Christians are probably descendants of biblical/ancient Jews who later converted to Christianity and Islam. [13] [14] [15] [16] [13] [17] [18]
Religious rite designations[ edit ]
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Today, many identify all non-Ashkenazi rite Jews as Sephardi – in modern Hebrew “Sfaradim”, mixing ancestral origin and religious rite. This broader definition of “Sephardim” as including all, or most, Mizrahi Jews is also common in Jewish religious circles. During the past century, the Sephardi rite absorbed the unique rite of the Yemenite Jews , and lately, Beta Israel religious leaders in Israel have also joined Sefardi rite collectivities, especially following rejection of their Jewishness by some Ashkenazi circles.
Yemenite Jew blowing shofar, 1947
The reason for this classification of all Mizrahim under Sephardi rite is that most Mizrahi communities use much the same religious rituals as Sephardim proper due to historical reasons. The prevalence of the Sephardi rite among Mizrahim is partially a result of Sephardim proper joining some of Mizrahi communities following the 1492 Alhambra Decree , which expelled Jews from Sepharad ( Spain and Portugal ). Over the last few centuries, the previously distinctive rites of the Mizrahi communities were influenced, superimposed upon or altogether replaced by the rite of the Sephardim, perceived as more prestigious. Even before this assimilation, the original rite of many Jewish Oriental communities was already closer to the Sephardi rite than to the Ashkenazi one. For this reason, “Sephardim” has come to mean not only “Spanish Jews” proper but “Jews of the Spanish rite”, just as ” Ashkenazim ” is used for “Jews of the German rite”, whether or not their families originate in Germany.
Many of the Sephardi Jews exiled from Spain resettled in greater or lesser numbers in the Arab world , such as Syria and Morocco . In Syria , most eventually intermarried with, and assimilated into, the larger established communities of Musta’rabim and Mizrahim. In some North African countries, such as Morocco, Sephardi Jews came in greater numbers, and largely contributed to the Jewish settlements that the pre-existing Jews were assimilated by them. Either way, this assimilation, combined with the use of the Sephardi rite, led to the popular designation and conflation of most non-Ashkenazi Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa as “Sephardi rite”, whether or not they were descended from Spanish Jews, which is what the terms “Sephardi Jews” and “Sfaradim” properly implied when used in the ethnic as opposed to the religious sense.
In some Arabic countries, such as Egypt and Syria, Sephardi Jews arrived via the Ottoman Empire would distinguish themselves from the already established Musta’rabim, while in others, such as Morocco and Algeria, the two communities largely intermarried, with the latter embracing Sephardi customs and thus forming a single community.
Language[ edit ]
Arabic[ edit ]
In the Arab world (such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria), Mizrahim most often speak Arabic , [10] although Arabic is now mainly used as a second language, especially by the older generation. Most of the many notable philosophical, religious and literary works of the Jews in Spain, North Africa and Asia were written in Arabic using a modified Hebrew alphabet .
Aramaic[ edit ]
Kurdish Jews in Rawanduz , northern Iraq , 1905.
Aramaic is a Semitic language subfamily. Specific varieties of Aramaic are identified as ” Jewish languages ” since they are the languages of major Jewish texts such as the Talmud and Zohar , and many ritual recitations such as the Kaddish . Traditionally, Aramaic has been a language of Talmudic debate in yeshivot , as many rabbinic texts are written in a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic. The current Hebrew alphabet , known as “Assyrian lettering” or “the square script”, was in fact borrowed from Aramaic.
In Kurdistan , the language of the Mizrahim is a variant of Aramaic. [10] As spoken by the Kurdish Jews , Judeo-Aramaic languages are Neo-Aramaic languages descended from Jewish Babylonian Aramaic . They are related to the Christian Aramaic dialects spoken by Assyrian people .
In 2007, a book was published, authored by Mordechai Zaken , describing the unique relationship between Jews in urban and rural Kurdistan and the tribal society under whose patronage the Jews lived for hundreds of years. Tribal chieftains, or aghas, granted patronage to the Jews who needed protection in the wild tribal region of Kurdistan; the Jews gave their chieftains dues, gifts and services. The text provides numerous tales and examples about the skills, maneuvers and innovations used by Kurdistani Jews in their daily life to confront their abuse and extortion by greedy chieftains and tribesmen. The text also tells the stories of Kurdish chieftains who saved and protected the Jews unconditionally. [19]
By the early 1950s, virtually the entire Jewish community of Kurdistan — a rugged, mostly mountainous region comprising parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the Caucasus, where Jews had lived since antiquity — relocated to Israel. The vast majority of Kurdish Jews, who were primarily concentrated in northern Iraq, left Kurdistan in the mass aliyah of 1950-51. This ended thousands of years of Jewish history in what had been Assyria and Babylonia .
Persian and other languages[ edit ]
Among other languages associated with Mizrahim are Judeo-Iranian languages such as Judeo-Persian , the Bukhori dialect , Judeo-Tat , and Kurdish languages ; Georgian ; Marathi ; and Judeo-Malayalam . Most Persian Jews speak standard Persian , as do many other Jews from Iran, Afghanistan, and Bukhara ( Uzbekistan ), [10] Judeo-Tat, a form of Persian, is spoken by the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan and Russian Dagestan, and in other Caucasian territories in Russia.
Migration[ edit ]
Some Mizrahim migrated to India, other parts of Central Asia, and China. In some Mizrahi Jewish communities (notably those of Yemen and Iran), polygyny has been practiced. [10]
Post-1948 dispersal[ edit ]
After the establishment of the State of Israel and subsequent 1948 Arab–Israeli War , most Mizrahim were either expelled by their Arab rulers or chose to leave and emigrated to Israel. [20] According to the 2009 Statistical Abstract of Israel, 50.2% of Israeli Jews are of Mizrahi or Sephardi origin. [21]
Anti-Jewish actions by Arab governments in the 1950s and 1960s, in the context of the founding of the State of Israel, led to the departure of large numbers of Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East.[ citation needed ] The exodus of 25,000 Mizrahi Jews from Egypt after the 1956 Suez Crisis led to the overwhelming majority of Mizrahim leaving Arab countries. They became refugees . Most went to Israel. Many Moroccan and Algerian Jews went to France. Thousands of Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian Jews emigrated to the United States and to Brazil.
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Today, as many as 40,000 Mizrahim still remain in communities scattered throughout the non-Arab Muslim world , primarily in Iran , but also Uzbekistan , Azerbaijan , and Turkey . [22] There are few Maghrebim remaining in the Arab world. About 5,000 remain in Morocco and fewer than 2,000 in Tunisia . Other countries with remnants of ancient Jewish communities with official recognition, such as Lebanon , have 100 or fewer Jews. A trickle of emigration continues, mainly to Israel and the United States .
Absorption into Israeli society[ edit ]
![[icon]](https://en.wikipedia.org//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it . (April 2008) |
Refuge in Israel was not without its tragedies: “In a generation or two, millennia of rooted Oriental civilization, unified even in its diversity”, had been wiped out, writes Mizrahi scholar Ella Shohat . [23] The trauma of rupture from their countries of origin was further complicated by the difficulty of the transition upon arrival in Israel; Mizrahi immigrants and refugees were placed in rudimentary and hastily erected tent cities ( Ma’abarot ) often in development towns on the peripheries of Israel. Settlement in Moshavim (cooperative farming villages) was only partially successful, because Mizrahim had historically filled a niche as craftsmen and merchants and most did not traditionally engage in farmwork. As the majority left their property behind in their home countries as they journeyed to Israel, many suffered a severe decrease in their socio-economic status aggravated by their cultural and political differences with the dominant Ashkenazi community. Furthermore, a policy of austerity was enforced at that time due to economic hardships.
Mizrahi immigrants arrived with many mother tongues:
- many, especially those from North Africa and the fertile crescent, spoke Arabic dialects;
- those from Iran spoke Persian ;
- Mountain Jews from Azerbaijan arrived with Judeo-Tat;
- Baghdadi Jews from India arrived with English;
- Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan arrived with the Bukhori dialect;
- the Bene Israel from Maharashtra , India , arrived with Marathi.
Mizrahim from elsewhere brought Georgian, Judaeo-Georgian and various other languages with them. Hebrew had historically been a language only of prayer for most Jews not living in Israel, including the Mizrahim. Thus, with their arrival in Israel, the Mizrahim retained culture, customs and language distinct from their Ashkenazi counterparts.
Disparities and integration[ edit ]
The cultural differences between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews impacted the degree and rate of assimilation into Israeli society, and sometimes the divide between Eastern European and Middle Eastern Jews was quite sharp. Segregation, especially in the area of housing, limited integration possibilities over the years. [24] Intermarriage between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim is increasingly common in Israel and by the late 1990s 28% of all Israeli children had multi-ethnic parents (up from 14% in the 1950s). [25] It has been claimed that intermarriage does not tend to decrease ethnic differences in socio-economic status, [26] however that does not apply to the children of inter-ethnic marriages. [27]
Although social integration is constantly improving, disparities persist. A study conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), Mizrahi Jews are less likely to pursue academic studies than Ashkenazi Jews. Israeli-born Ashkenazim are up to twice more likely to study in a university than Israeli-born Mizrahim. [28] Furthermore, the percentage of Mizrahim who seek a university education remains low compared to second-generation immigrant groups of Ashkenazi origin, such as Russians. [29] According to a survey by the Adva Center, the average income of Ashkenazim was 36 percent higher than that of Mizrahim in 2004. [30]
Notable Mizrahim[ edit ]
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Business people[ edit ]
- David Alliance, Baron Alliance GBE – Iranian born British businessman and Liberal Democrat politician
- Jacob Arabo – Bukharian-American jeweler and founder of Jacob & Company
- Joseph Cayre co-founder of record label Salsoul Records , video tape distributor and producer GoodTimes Entertainment , and video game publisher GT Interactive Software .
- Stanley Chera American real estate developer
- J. Darius Bikoff
- Jack Dellal
- Henry Elghanayan – Real Estate Developer
- Habib Elghanian – Prominent businessman executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran
- Shlomo Eliyahu – Israeli businessman
- Ghermezian family – Billionaire shopping mall developers
- Elie Tahari – fashion designer
- David Hindawi Iraqi-born, American software entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of Tanium
- Orion Hindawi is an American software entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of Tanium . Son of David Hindawi.
- Neil Kadisha – Billionaire businessman
- Michael Kadoorie – Businessman from Hong-Kong, coming from Iraqi Jewish descent
- Nasser David Khalili – Billionaire property developer and art collector
- Albert Laboz , New York City real estate developer.
- Isaac Larian – Chief Executive Officer of MGA Entertainment
- Lev Avnerovich Leviev – Israeli businessman of Bukharian descent [31]
- Isaac Mizrahi – fashion designer ( Syrian Jew from Brooklyn )
- Sam Mizrahi – Canadian luxury real estate developer
- David Merage and Paul Merage – Co-founders of Hot Pockets snack food company
- Joseph Moinian , real estate developer in New York City.
- Shlomo Moussaieff – Jewellery Designer/ Judaic Collector and Expert ( Bukharian )
- David Nahmad – Billionaire Syrian art dealer
- Ezri Namvar – Iranian-born American businessman, philanthropist and convicted criminal.
- Ebrahim Daoud Nonoo – Bahraini businessman and former member of the Bahraini National Assembly
- Fred Ohebshalom – American real estate developer, philanthropist and CEO & founder of Empire Management.
- Joseph Parnes – Investment Advisor
- David and Simon Reuben – British businessmen born in India, from a family of Baghdadi Jews
- Joseph Sitt , founder of global real estate company Thor Equities .
- Nouriel Roubini – Economist
- Charles Saatchi – Advertising executive and art collector born in Iraq
- Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi – advertising executive and former chairman of the British Conservative Party
- Edmond Safra – Swiss-Lebanese-Brazilian Banker
- Sassoon family – from the 18th century onwards becoming one of the wealthiest families in the world.
- Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz – Property developers
Entertainers[ edit ]
- Paula Abdul , American singer and choreographer (Father was of Syrian Jewish descent)
- Sylvain Sylvain American rock guitarist, member of the New York Dolls . Migrated from Egypt as a child.
- Etti Ankri , Israeli pop singer
- Zohar Argov , Israeli popular singer, called “the King” of the “Mizrahi” music (Yemenite)
- Gali Atari , Israeli singer and actress, won the Eurovision Song Contest (from a Yemenite family)
- Ehud Banai , Israeli singer and composer
- Evyatar Banai , Israeli singer and composer
- Yuval Banai , Israeli singer and composer
- Yossi Banai , Israeli singer and actor (from a Persian Jewish family settled in Jerusalem)
- Meir Banai , Israeli singer
- Shlomo Bar , Israeli singer and composer
- Bea Benaderet , U.S. actor (Father was of Turkish Jewish descent)
- Sonia Benezra , French Canadian radio and TV personality
- David Blumberg, music producer, clarinetist (Father was of Bukharian descent)
- Patrick Bruel , French pop singer
- Yizhar Cohen , Israeli singer, won the Eurovision Song Contest (Yemenite family)
- Emmanuelle Chriqui , Canadian actress
- Yair Dalal , Israeli musician of Iraqi-Jewish descent.
- Shoshana Damari , Israeli singer (Yemen born)
- Dana International , (Cohen) Israeli pop singer , won the Eurovision Song Contest (Yemenite family)
- Yehoram Gaon , Israeli singer and actor. [32]
- Eyal Golan , Israeli singer (Moroccan and Yemenite descent)
- Zion Golan , Israeli singer (Yemenite descent)
- Sarit Hadad , Israeli singer (Israeli born from mixed Tunisian and Mountain Jews family)
- Ofra Haza , Israeli pop and oriental singer (Yemenite family)
- Moshe Ivgy , Israeli cinema and theatre actor
- Malika Kalantarova , Tajik- Bukharian dancer ( People’s Artist of USSR )
- Chris Kattan , U.S actor (son of a Jewish-Iraqi origin father)
- Fatima Kuinova , Soviet- Bukharian singer (Merited Artist of USSR)
- Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaity , Kuwaiti -born Iraqi musicians
- Mélanie Laurent , French actress and director
- Yehezkel Lazarov , Israeli actor
- Haim Moshe , Israeli-born “Mizrahi” and pop singer (Yemenite)
- Shoista Mullojonova , Bukharian legendary Shashmakom folk singer (People’s Artist of Tajikistan )
- Farhat Ezekiel Nadira ( Nadira ), Bollywood actress of the 1940s and 1950s ( Baghdadi Jew from India )
- Achinoam Nini (“Noa”), Israeli born, Yemenite pop singer
- Rita , Iranian born, Israeli pop singer
- Salima Pasha , Iraqi singer
- Berry Sakharof , Israeli singer and composer
- Jerry Seinfeld , American comedian and actor (his mother is of Syrian Jewish descent)
- Boaz Sharabi , Israeli singer (born Yemenite, Tunisian, & Moroccan ancestry)
- Harel Skaat , Singer and “Kokhav Nolad” (“Israeli Idol”) contestant (Yemenite descent)
- Bahar Soomekh , Persian Jewish-American actress
- Subliminal , Israeli rapper of Persian/Tunisian descent
- Pe’er Tasi , Israeli singer
- Shimi Tavori , Israeli singer
- Elliott Yamin , American singer (Jewish Iraqi father)
- Idan Yaniv , Israeli singer of Bukharian descent (Israeli Artist of 2007)
- Yaffa Yarkoni , Israeli singer (from a Caucasian Jewish family)
- Ariel Zilber , Israeli singer and composer (son of a Yemenite Jewish-origin mother)
- Boaz Mauda , Israeli singer (Jewish Yemenite descent)
- Bahar Soomekh , Iranian-American actress
- A-WA , Israeli female band
Scientists and Nobel prize laureates[ edit ]
- Claude Cohen-Tannoudji , French physicist, Nobel prize laureate in Physics .
- Baruj Benacerraf , American immunologist, Nobel prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine .
- Serge Haroche , French physicist, Nobel prize laureate in Physics .
- Avshalom Elitzur , Israeli physicist, noted for the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-testing problem in quantum mechanics .
Inventors[ edit ]
- Gavriil Ilizarov , Soviet physician of Mountain Jewish descent, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus for lengthening limb bones and for his eponymous surgery
- Abraham Karem , an aerospace engineer who is a pioneer in Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology.
Politicians and military[ edit ]
- Yekutiel Adam , Israeli general (from a Caucasian Jewish family)
- Binyamin Ben-Eliezer , Israeli general, current Israeli minister of Infrastructure, former minister of Defense and Israel Labor Party chairman, (Iraqi Jew), commonly called by his Arabic name “Fuad”
- Yisrael Yeshayahu Sharabi, Minister of Post and Speaker of Knesset 1970s and 80s, ethnicity/country of origin: Yemen
- Houda Ezra served as the Bahraini Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2013.
- Les Gara , Democratic member of the Alaska State Legislature, former deputy state attorney general (Iraqi parents)
- Dalia Itzik , former Knesset speaker
- J F R Jacob , Indian Army war hero, retired general also sometimes called the ‘Liberator of Dhaka’
- Avigdor Kahalani , former minister of Internal Security and decorated IDF tank commander (Yemenite descent)
- Moshe Katsav , former President of the State of Israel and minister of Transportation, ethnicity/country of origin: Iran
- Shaul Mofaz , former Israeli Minister of Defense and chief of the IDF General Staff, Iranian Jew
- David Alliance, Baron Alliance GBE – Iranian born British businessman and Liberal Democrat politician.
- Yitzhak Mordechai , retired IDF general, former minister of Defense and minister of Transportation, ethnicity/country of origin: Iraq
- Gabi Ashkenazi – IDF Chief of Staff – of Syrian Jewish descent
- Dorrit Moussaieff , First Lady of Iceland (Bukharian Jew)
- Abie Nathan , Israeli peace activist
- Shlomo Hillel , was speaker of the Knesset, minister
- Moshe Levi , Israeli general, chief of the Idf General Staff
- Dan Halutz , Israeli air pilot and general, chief of the IDF General Staff
- Moshe Shahal , minister and lawyer
- Moshe Nissim , was Israeli finance and justice minister
- Eli Cohen , Israeli spy in Syria
- Ran Cohen , politician from the left liberal party Meretz, former MK (Iraqi Jewish descent)
- Shalom Simhon , Israeli politician, from Labor party, minister of agriculture
- Tamir Pardo , Director of the Mossad
Religious figures[ edit ]
- Rabbi Shimon Agassi , Iraqi Hakham and kabbalist
- Rabbi Shlomo Amar , the current Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem , of Moroccan Jewish descent.
- Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron , former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, of Persian Jewish descent.
- Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu , former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel
- Rabbi Abraham Hillel , Chief Rabbi of Baghdad
- Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri , renowned Mizrahi Haredi rabbi and kabbalist devoted life to Torah from Baghdad, lived to be 108
- Rabbi Shlomo Moussaieff , Co-founder of Bukharian Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem
- Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak , Orthodox rabbi of Yemenite origin
- Rabbi Ovadia Yosef , former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and spiritual leader of Shas (Iraqi Jewish descent)
- Rabbi-Cohen Shalomim HaLahawi , Chief Rabbi of the Mizrahi-Ethiopian Jewish Int’l Rabbinical Council, of Mt. Carmel Israel Origin
Sportspeople[ edit ]
- Doron Jamchi , Israeli basketball player
- Oded Kattash , Israeli basketball player
- Robert Mizrachi , poker player, Iraqi Jew
- Michael Mizrachi , poker player, Iraqi Jew
- Victor Perez , boxer, Tunisian Jew
- Yossi Benayoun , Israeli soccer player for Chelsea , Liverpool and Arsenal , of Moroccan Jewish descent
- Shahar Tzuberi , Israeli Olympic medalist in Windsurfing, Yemenite Jew
- Omri Casspi , The first Israeli-born player to the NBA , of Moroccan Jewish descent
Visual arts[ edit ]
- Adi Ness – photographer of Iranian descent
- Israel Tsvaygenbaum , Russian-American painter of mixed Polish and Mountain Jewish descent
- Anish Kapoor , British-Indian sculptor, born in Mumbai to a Hindu father and Baghdadi Jewish mother
Writers and academics[ edit ]
- Sami Michael , Israeli Hebrew writer (born in Iraq)
- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson , psychotherapist
- Samir Naqqash , Israeli Jewish writer in Arab language (born in Iraq)
- Yehouda Shenhav , Israeli sociologist (born in an Iraqi Jewish family, Shahrabani)
- Saba Soomekh , professor/writer
- Avi Shlaim , Oxford University scholar; author specialising on the Israel-Palestine conflict and Zionism. Shlaim is originally from Iraq.
- Ella Habiba Shohat , cultural studies scholar and author from a Baghdadi Jewish family, lives in NY
- Eli Amir , Israeli Hebrew writer
- Smadar Lavie , Israeli anthropologist
- Jacques Attali , French thinker and author
- Shimon Adaf , Israeli Hebrew poet and writer
- Orly Castel Bloom , Israeli Hebrew writer (from an Egyptian Jewish family)
- Haim Sabato , Israeli rabbi and Hebrew writer
- Rachel Shabi , British/Israeli journalist and author of We Look Like the Enemy: Israel’s Jews from Arab Lands, about Mizrahi Jews in Israel
- Sasson Somekh , Israeli Arabologist
- Nissim Ezekiel , Indian poet and art critic
- Andre Chouraqui , French-Israeli thinker and writer
- Gina B. Nahai , Iranian-American Writer, Columnist, Professor
- Jacques Derrida , French philosopher
- Eva Illouz , French-Israeli sociologist
See also[ edit ]
- Ashkenazi Jews
- Jewish ethnic divisions
- Ladino
- List of notable Mizrahi Jews and Sephardi Jews in Israel
- Mizrahi Hebrew
- Mizrachi (political party)
- Sephardi Jews
- Yemenite Jews
References[ edit ]
- ^ “Jewish woman brutally murdered in Iran over property dispute” . The Times of Israel. November 28, 2012. Retrieved Aug 16, 2014.
A government census published earlier this year indicated there were a mere 8,756 Jews left in Iran
- ^ “Egypt, International Religious Freedom Report 2008” . Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor . September 19, 2008.
- ^ “Some of the last Jews of Yemen brought to Israel in secret mission” . The Jerusalem Post . 21 March 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
The Jewish Agency noted that some fifty Jews remain in Yemen…
- ^ Farrell, Stephan (1 June 2008). “Baghdad Jews Have Become a Fearful Few” . The New York Times . Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ Sokol, Sam (18 October 2016). “Jew appointed to official position in Iraqi Kurdistan” . The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ J. Prince, Cathryn (12 November 2015). “The stunning tale of the escape of Aleppo’s last Jews” . The Times of Israel . Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ “Jews in Islamic Countries: Lebanon” . Jewish Virtual Library . October 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ Ya’ar, Chana (28 November 2010). “King of Bahrain Appoints Jewish Woman to Parliament” . Arutz Sheva . Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ “통계청 – KOSIS 국가통계포털” . Kosis.kr. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
- ^ a b c d e “Mizrahi Jews” . Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Jews, Arabs, and Arab Jews: The Politics of Identity and Reproduction in Israel, Ducker, Clare Louise, Institute of Social Studies , The Hague, Netherlands
- ^ Shohat, Ella (May 2001). “Rupture And Return: A Mizrahi Perspective On The Zionist Discourse (archives)” . The MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies. Retrieved 8 March 2015. (clicking on archived links leads to document download)
- ^ a b Alain F. Corcos (2005). The Myth of the Jewish Race: A Biologist’s Point of View . Lehigh University Press. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-934223-79-9 .
- ^ The Jewish Intelligencer: A Monthly Publication . 1837. pp. 182–.
- ^ Mazin B. Qumsiyeh (2004). Sharing the land of Canaan: human rights and the Israeli-Palestinian struggle . Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-2248-3 .
- ^ Bernard Spolsky (27 March 2014). The Languages of the Jews: A Sociolinguistic History . Cambridge University Press. pp. 190–. ISBN 978-1-139-91714-8 .
- ^ Sarah Stroumsa (20 November 2011). Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker . Princeton University Press. pp. 60–. ISBN 0-691-15252-7 .
- ^ Norman K. Gottwald (28 October 2008). The Hebrew Bible: A Brief Socio-Literary Introduction . Fortress Press. pp. 156–. ISBN 978-0-8006-6308-7 .
- ^ Mordechai Zaken, Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival, Brill: Boston and Leiden, 2007.
- ^ “Jews of the Middle East” . Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
- ^ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2009, CBS. “Table 2.24 – Jews, by country of origin and age” (PDF). Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ The Jewish Population of the World , The Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ Ella Shohat: “Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of its Jewish Victims”, Social Text, No.19/20 (1988), p. 32
- ^ “Int J Urban & Regional Res, Volume 24 Issue 2 Page 418-438, June 2000” . Wiley. 2003-03-07.
- ^ Barbara S. Okun, Orna Khait-Marelly. 2006. Socioeconomic Status and Demographic Behavior of Adult Multiethnics: Jews in Israel.
- ^ “Project MUSE” . Muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
- ^ “Children of Ethnic Intermarriage in Israeli Schools: Are They Marginal?” .
- ^ http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications/educ_demog_05/pdf/t16.pdf
- ^ “97_gr_.xls” (PDF). Retrieved 2014-01-21.
- ^ Hebrew PDF Archived December 17, 2005, at the Wayback Machine .
- ^ “Gelt Complex: Bukharians Swing Big, A First For Russian Jews, Arab Principal Honored –” . Forward.com. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
- ^ “‘המוזיקה המזרחית – זבל שהשטן לא ברא‘” . Ynet . 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
בסופו של דבר אני רואה את עצמי כבן עדות המזרח גאה, ודווקא מהנקודה הזו אני נותן ביקורת כואבת.
Bibliography[ edit ]
- Gilbert, Martin (2010). In Ishmael’s house: a History of Jews in Muslim Lands. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300167153 .
- Zaken, Mordechai (2007). Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival. Boston and Leiden: Brill.
- Smadar, Lavie (2014). Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic Torture . Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-78238-222-5 .
External links[ edit ]
Organizations[ edit ]
- World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries
- Sephardic Pizmonim Project Music of Mizrahi Jews.
- JIMENA Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa
- Multiculturalism Project – Middle Eastern and North African Jews
- Hakeshet Hademocratit Hamizrachit – An organization of Mizrahi Jews in Israel
- Harif: Association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (British-based)
- Ha’ Yisrayli Torah Brith Yahad, Mizrahi Jewish Int’l Medical Humanitarian NGO recognized by the United Nations Civil Society and Economic Development Division (USA Based)
Articles[ edit ]
- Ella Shohat, Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989; New Edition, London: I. B. Tauris, 2010).
- Ella Shohat, Le sionisme du point de vue de ses victimes juives: les juifs orientaux en Israel (first published in 1988, with a new introduction, La fabrique editions, Paris, 2006).
- Ella Shohat, Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices (Durham: Duke University Press, 2006).
- Ella Shohat, “Rupture and Return: Zionist Discourse and the Study of Arab Jews”, Social Text, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Summer 2003), pp. 49–74
- Ella Shohat, “The Invention of the Mizrahim”, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Autumn 1999), pp. 5–20
- Ella Shohat, “The Narrative of the Nation and the Discourse of Modernization: The Case of the Mizrahim”, Critique, (Spring, 1997), pp. 3–18
- Ella Shohat, “Rethinking Jews and Muslims: Quincentennial Reflections”, Middle East Report, No. 178 (Sep.–Oct. 1992), pp. 25–29
- Ella Shohat, “Staging the Quincentenary: The Middle East and the Americas”, Third Text (London) (Special issue on “The Wake of Utopia”), 21 (Winter 1992 93), pp. 95, 105
- Ella Shohat, “Dislocated Identities: Reflections of an Arab Jew”, Movement Research: Performance Journal #5 (Fall-Winter 1992), p. 8
- Ella Shohat, “Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Jewish Victims”, Social Text, No. 19/20 (Autumn 1988), pp. 1–35
- Mizrahi Wanderings – Nancy Hawker on Samir Naqqash, one of Israel’s foremost Arab-language Mizrahi novelists
- The Middle East’s Forgotten Refugees A chronicle of Mizrahi refugees by Semha Alwaya
- The Forgotten Refugees
- Moshe Levy The story of an Iraqi Jew in the Israeli Navy and his survival on the war-ship Eilat
- My Life in Iraq Yeheskel Kojaman describes his life as a Mizrahi Jew in Iraq in the 50s and 60s
- Audio interview with Ammiel Alcalay discussing Mizrahi literature
- Excerpt from The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times by Norman Stillman
- Etan Bloom, The Reproduction of the Model “Oriental” in the Israeli Social Space; the 50s and the speedy immigration. Tel-Aviv Univ. M.A. in the Unit for Culture Research, 2003. (Hebrew, with summary in English.)
- Saul Silas Fathi Full Circle: Escape From Baghdad and the Return by Saul Silas Fathi, A prominent Iraqi Jewish family’s escape from persecution.
- Road From Damascus, Tablet Magazine
- The Way! , The Prophetic Messianic Voice to the Path of the Edenic Kingdom Redemption, by Rabbi Shalomim Y. Halahawi MD(AM), I-NMD, PsyD., 464 pages [Lulu Press, 2007]
Communities[ edit ]
- Bukharian Jews Bukharian Jewish community (English and Russian)
- PersianRabbi.com Persian Jewish community
- Kurdish Jewry (Hebrew)
- The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center Disseminating the 3000-year-old heritage of Babylonian Jewry (English and Hebrew)
- Iraqi Jews Iraqi American Jewish Community in New York. Perpetuating the history, heritage, culture and traditions of Babylonian Jewry.
- Sha’ar Binyamin Damascus Jewry (Hebrew and Spanish)
- Jews of Lebanon
- Historical Society of Jews from Egypt
- Harissa.com Tunisian Jewish site (French)
- Jewish Djerba Djerbian Jewish site (French)
- Zlabia.com Algerian Jewish site (French)
- Dafina.net Moroccan Jewish site (French)
- The Nash Didan Community Persian Azerbaijany, Aramaic speaking community (Hebrew, some English and Aramaic)
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Netanyahu apologizes for ‘Mizrahi gene’ remark
PM takes to Twitter to say sorry after critics slam his comment as racist
By Alexander Fulbright
17 March 2017, 1:27 pm
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized on Friday following an uproar over comments he made deemed offensive to Jews of Middle Eastern extraction.
During a meeting of coalition party leaders on Thursday, Netanyahu was asked by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon — who is of Libyan decent — why he called for a six-month delay of the scheduled April opening of the new public broadcaster, to which the prime minister responded “my Mizrahi gene acted up,” seemingly attributing his rash decision to this stereotype.
Mizrahi is a Hebrew word meaning “eastern” and is used to refer to Jews whose families came from the Middle East and North African, as opposed to Ashkenazi Jews of European descent.
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After an uproar from across the political spectrum, Netanyahu took to Twitter on Friday to make amends.
“I apologize for my remarks yesterday. I had no intention of harming anyone,” he said.
“I am connected with all my heart to every ethnic group in Israel and admire their tremendous contributions to the heritage of our nation and the building of our land,” the prime minister added.
Prior to his apology, a number of lawmakers had slammed Netanyahu for his comments.
“This is not a Mizrahi gene, this is a racist gene,” said MK Amir Peretz (Zionist Union), who was born in Morocco.
“There is no question we are talking about arrogance, disengagement,” he told Army Radio in an interview on Friday, adding that the “prime minister should stand up and apologize because this statement borders on racism.”
MK Oren Hazan (Likud) also called on Netanyahu to apologize, writing in on Twitter account that “if you really had [a Mizrahi gene]…you would not insult it.”
MK Miki Rosenthal (Zionist Union) criticized Culture Minister Miri Regev — who is of Moroccan descent — for her silence over Netanyahu’s comment, pointing out that she has previously harshly condemned offensive statements toward Mizrahi Jews.
“This is what hypocrisy looks like: ten minutes after the ‘ amulet kissers ‘ speech by [Yair] Garbuz in [Rabin] square, Miri Regev justly put out a statement of condemnation to the press which included criticism of racism and arrogance,” he said, referencing a 2015 speech by Yair Garbuz that was widely criticized for being offensive to Mizrahi Jews.
Tensions between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews goes back to Israel’s earliest days of independence. Arriving from Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa after Israel’s establishment in 1948, many Mizrahi immigrants were sent to shantytown transit camps and largely sidelined by the European leaders of the founding Labor Party.
The exact population breakdown is hard to calculate because intermarriage is now quite common. But Mizrahi or part-Mizrahi Jews make up roughly half of Israel’s Jewish population.
They have long complained of discrimination by the European-descended elite that traditionally dominated government, military and business institutions.
The complaints have diminished, as has some of the domination, but gaps remain. There has never been a Mizrahi prime minister, for example. Mizrahis far outnumber Ashkenazis in prison — and are far outnumbered in academia, and are also generally poorer than Jews of European descent.
AP contributed to this report.
- Israel Inside
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Mizrahi Jews
- Amir Peretz
- Oren Hazan
- Ahmad Tibi
- Mickey Rosenthal
- Miri Regev
- Ashkenazi Jews
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