Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Finland
Finland: its Jewish community, relations with "Israel" and the David's Sling purchase
More than 2,000 Jews live in Finland, according to the Finnish Jewish community as cited by the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] Finland has ordered Israeli weapons including the David's Sling missile-defence system.[2]
Jewish community
There are two Jewish communities, in Helsinki (about 950 members) and Turku. The Central Council of Jewish Communities of Finland (Suomen Juutalaisten Seurakuntien Keskusneuvosto) is the WJC's affiliate. Helsinki institutions include the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO), the Jewish National Fund, Keren Hayesod and a Maccabi sports club. The WJC says that the community regards antisemitism, "especially the kind that is expressed through anti-Zionism", as a challenge.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
The WJC notes a Chabad center in Helsinki.[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Finland as recognition in January 1949, with "Israel" represented by its embassy in Helsinki.[3] According to the WJC, the Finnish government announced de facto recognition in June 1948 and diplomatic relations were established on 14 November 1950. The Israeli embassy is at Yrjönkatu 36 A, 00100 Helsinki.[1]
Arms trade
SIPRI records a EUR316 million Finnish order in 2023 for the David's Sling anti-ballistic missile system, with Stunner interceptor missiles; 75 Gabriel-5 anti-ship missiles (a EUR162 million deal, 2018) for Hamina missile boats and Pohjanmaa frigates; Spike anti-tank missiles under a EUR224 million deal in 2022 and earlier orders from 2000; three M-2311 air-search radars; and Ranger reconnaissance drones ordered via a Swiss company. In the other direction it records Finnish 120mm and 160mm mortars delivered to "Israel" in 1965–1971, given Israeli designations M-65 and M-66.[2]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $367.1 million from Finland in 2025 (2024: $319.8 million) and exported goods worth $120.0 million to it (2024: $96.0 million).[4]
Political interference
UN voting
Finland 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 Denmark
- 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 Finland worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ 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).