Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Malta
Malta: its Jewish community, relations with "Israel" and recognition of Palestine
About 100 Jews lived in Malta in 2023, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] Malta established relations with "Israel" in 1965[2] and recognised the State of Palestine on 22 September 2025.[3]
Jewish community
The WJC says that Jews probably first reached Malta with Phoenician traders and settled more permanently in the first century CE. They were expelled after the Inquisition reached Malta in 1492, and under the Knights of Saint John the only practising Jews on the island were slaves. Before the Holocaust Malta was, according to the WJC, "the only European country that didn't require visas for Jews to enter".[1]
The community, mostly Sephardic and living in or around Valletta, is represented by the Jewish Community of Malta (JCM), the WJC's affiliate. There is a Jewish Center in Valletta, and Chabad is active in close conjunction with the JCM.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Malta as established in December 1965, with "Israel" represented by its ambassador in Italy.[2] The WJC says that "Israel" is represented in Malta by its ambassador in Rome, at the Embassy of the State of Israel, Via Michele Mercati 14, 00197 Roma.[1]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $178.8 million from Malta in 2025 (2024: $59.9 million) and exported goods worth $189.8 million to it (2024: $245.6 million).[4]
Political interference
Recognition of Palestine
Prime Minister Robert Abela announced Malta's recognition of the State of Palestine at the United Nations on 22 September 2025, calling for the release of the hostages: "No ifs, no buts. The hostages must come home." Times of Malta reported that Malta had been expected to recognise Palestine in 2024 alongside Norway, Spain and Ireland but had postponed the step, and that the Israeli ambassador, Ruth Cohen Dar, said that "Israel" "categorically rejects" the recognition.[3]
UN voting
Malta voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[5]
Ehud Barak emails
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[6]
- On 2 October 2013 the businessman Gary Fegel wrote to Barak about a planned joint venture: "In regards to our JV company, it will be either a Malta or Gibraltar company. The reason for this is that both Malta and Gibraltar have favourable Double Tax Treaties with both Israel and Switzerland, which makes these juristictions ideal for both of us."[7]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Andorra
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Liechtenstein
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Monaco
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to San Marino
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Vatican City
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Luxembourg
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Iceland
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in Malta 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 Watch: Malta formally recognises Palestine at UN summit Times of Malta, 22 September 2025, accessed 25 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).
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Email from Gary Fegel to Ehud Barak, "Pavel / JV", 2 October 2013, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!42/1 (353).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026.