Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Albania
Albania: its small Jewish community, Holocaust-era protection of Jews and relations with "Israel"
Between 40 and 50 Jews lived in Albania in 2023, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC), which says that many Albanians helped and protected Jews during the Holocaust.[1] Albania abstained on the September 2025 UN resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[2]
Jewish community
The Albanian Jewish Community is the WJC's affiliate. A Greek-based Chabad rabbi runs the Hechal Shlomo Synagogue in Tirana.===Chabad===
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
The WJC notes that a Chabad rabbi based in Greece operates the Hechal Shlomo Synagogue.[1]
Holocaust
According to the WJC, about 600 Jews, most of them refugees from Nazi persecution, were living in Albania before the Second World War. The Italian authorities who occupied the country from April 1939 tended not to enforce anti-Jewish laws, and "many Albanians helped and protected their country’s Jews during the Holocaust years". After Germany took control in 1943, some 600 Jews were sent to Nazi camps; only around 100 of those sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survived.[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Albania as established in August 1991, with "Israel" represented by its ministry in Jerusalem and an honorary consul.[3] The WJC says that Albania "recognized Israel as the Jewish State in 1945" and that the two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1991. In 2020 Albania became the first Muslim-majority country to formally adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The Israeli embassy is at Rruga Abdyl Frasheri, EGT Tower, 14th floor, Tirana.[1]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $5.3 million from Albania in 2025 (2024: $8.0 million) and exported goods worth $42.8 million to it (2024: $32.6 million).[4]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bulgaria
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Croatia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Greece
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kosovo
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Montenegro
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Macedonia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Romania
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Serbia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Slovenia
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in Albania worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).