Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan: a small Jewish community in Bishkek with Chabad and ORT-funded schooling, relations with the Israeli state handled from Astana, Israeli development projects, and Kyrgyz references in the Epstein files
Kyrgyzstan has about 400 Jews, most of them in Bishkek, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] It established diplomatic relations with "Israel" on 4 March 1992.[2] "Israel" has no embassy in Bishkek; its embassy in Astana covers Kyrgyzstan,[3] and Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to "Israel" is based in Ankara.[4]
Jewish community and religious life
History and demography
According to the WJC, Jewish communal life in what is now Kyrgyzstan began after the Russian conquest of Central Asia in the second half of the 19th century, when both European and Bukharan Jews settled there. The Ashkenazi population grew with exiles and refugees in the 1930s and 1940s. The synagogue in Bishkek (then Frunze) was opened in 1941; synagogues were also established in Osh and Kant. By the end of the 1970s there were 7,200 Jews, and over 5,000 have emigrated since the early 1990s. The demographer Sergio DellaPergola estimated the community at 200 to 600 in 2009.[1]
Communal organisations
Jewish Community of Kyrgyzstan. The WJC's Kyrgyz affiliate is the Jewish Community of Kyrgyzstan, whose president is Vladimir Kritsman. The Bishkek synagogue holds a daily minyan. Since 2000 the community has published a monthly newsletter, Ma'ayan; the WJC says that more of its articles seem to cover news from "Israel", Russia and the US than community news.[1]
- How far is it Zionist? The community is affiliated to the WJC. No statement by it on Zionism was found.
Menorah Society of Jewish Culture. The Menorah Society runs a Sunday school for about 30 pupils, where volunteers teach Jewish history, Hebrew and Torah.[1]
- How far is it Zionist? No sourced evidence was found.
Pri Etz Chaim school. About 80 children attend Bishkek's Jewish day school, Pri Etz Chaim, which teaches Hebrew and Jewish history alongside the state curriculum and is funded by World ORT.[1]
Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States. The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States lists Arie Reichman as chief rabbi of Kyrgyzstan.[5] It says that it follows the halachic guidelines of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of "Israel".[5]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of Kyrgyzstan
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
According to The Jerusalem Post, Kyrgyzstan has twice explored opening an embassy in "Israel": in the early 1990s and again in 2018, when senior Kyrgyz parliamentarians discussed it with their Israeli counterparts.[2] The Israeli foreign ministry listed Kyrgyzstan in 2011 as a non-resident posting covered by its ambassador in Kazakhstan.[6] The Israeli embassy in Astana describes itself as the embassy to "The Republic of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic".[3] The ambassador from September 2025 is Yoav Bistritsky.[2] Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Turkey, Ruslan Kazakbaev, is also its ambassador to "Israel".[4]
Development and trade
According to The Jerusalem Post, "Israel" provided humanitarian aid after the ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010, and Israeli ophthalmologists treated Kyrgyz patients free of charge in 2015. In 2014 Kyrgyzstan's agriculture minister signed an agreement with the Israeli company Emi Technologies to build logistics centres in the country. Bishkek hosted an Israeli film festival in 2016.[2] SIPRI records no Israeli arms transfers to Kyrgyzstan.[7] The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics does not list Kyrgyzstan separately in its trade-by-country table.[8]
Political interference
UN voting
Kyrgyzstan voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[9]
Jeffrey Epstein
Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the Jeffrey Epstein files include the following references to Kyrgyzstan:
- In April 2010 the Scholar Rescue Fund of the Institute of International Education reported that one of its grantees, Baktybek Beshimov, former head of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, had been appointed by the interim government as its representative in Washington. Henry Jarecki forwarded the news to Epstein, who asked: "How threatened was he that he is now ambassador".[10]
- In December 2010 David Stern forwarded Epstein a Daily Mail article about Prince Andrew attending a dinner at Epstein's New York house. The article recalled the prince's remarks to the US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller, published by WikiLeaks. Epstein forwarded it to Al Seckel.[11]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kazakhstan
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Tajikistan
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Uzbekistan
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 World Jewish Congress, Community in Kyrgyzstan worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Alex Winston, Stan's the name: Inside Israel's growing partnerships across Central Asia The Jerusalem Post, 12 December 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Embassy of Israel in Kazakhstan, The Embassy embassies.gov.il, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ruslan Kazakbaev appointed Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro concurrently AKIpress, 30 January 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, The Rabbis rabbisalliance.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Email thread between Henry Jarecki and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Baktybek Beshimov", 19–20 April 2010, EFTA01811083, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 10, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Al Seckel, forwarding David Stern, "Fwd: Daily Mail: His Buffoon Highness strikes again", 7 December 2010, EFTA00899691, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 21 October 2026.