Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Denmark
Denmark: its Jewish community, relations with "Israel" and Israeli arms purchases
About 6,400 Jews lived in Denmark in 2023, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] Denmark recognised "Israel" in 1949[2] and has bought Israeli artillery, rocket launchers and missiles.[3]
Jewish community
Most Danish Jews live in Copenhagen, with smaller communities in Odense and Aarhus. The WJC says that the community has shrunk since the 1990s, partly because of antisemitic incidents, and that "their support for Israel can create tension if they are vocal about it".[1]
The central body is the Jewish Community in Denmark (Det Jødiske Samfund i Danmark), the WJC's affiliate. Organisations based at the Jewish House in Copenhagen include branches of WIZO, the Zionist Federation, Keren Kayemet and Maccabi (Hakoah).[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Denmark as recognition in January 1949, with "Israel" represented by its embassy in Copenhagen.[2] The WJC notes that a monument of Eilat stone stands on Israel Plads in Copenhagen as a gift of the Israeli people, and that many Israeli towns commemorate the 1943 rescue of Danish Jews. The Israeli embassy is at Lundevangsvej 4, DK-2900 Hellerup, Copenhagen.[1]
Arms trade
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Danish orders for 19 ATMOS-2000 155mm self-propelled guns (a DKK802 million, $119 million deal, 2022) and eight PULS multiple rocket launchers (a DKK943 million, $133 million deal, 2023), with EXTRA, AccuLAR and Predator Hawk rockets and missiles for them. It also records 200 Spike-LR-2 anti-tank missiles from the EuroSpike production line in Germany, Litening targeting pods for Danish F-16s, and K-6 120mm mortars bought in 2010 for use in Afghanistan.[3]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $723.0 million from Denmark in 2025 (2024: $613.3 million) and exported goods worth $178.9 million to it (2024: $121.3 million).[4]
Political interference
UN voting
Denmark voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[5]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Finland
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Norway
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Sweden
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Estonia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Latvia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Lithuania
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Iceland
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in Denmark worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).
- ↑ 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).