Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Moldova
Moldova: its Jewish community, emigration to "Israel" and the opening of an Israeli embassy
Moldova's Jewish community has stabilised at around 10,000 people, most of them in Chișinău, after an exodus "primarily to Israel" in the early 1990s, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] "Israel" opened its first embassy in Chișinău on 4 February 2025.[2] Moldova abstained on the September 2025 UN resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[3]
Jewish community
The Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova, an umbrella body of 12 municipal organisations and nine regional communities, is the WJC's affiliate. Chișinău has four synagogues, including the "Glaziers" synagogue of Chabad Lubavitch Moldova.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement
The WJC notes that Chabad is among the institutions working to maintain Jewish cultural life in Chișinău.[1]
History
According to the WJC, decrees of expulsion under Russian rule sparked interest in Zionism among Bessarabian Jews, who were represented at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 by Jacob Bernstein-Kogan of Kishinev. The 1903 Kishinev pogrom killed hundreds and led thousands of Jews to emigrate. More than 100,000 Jews from Bessarabia died in the Holocaust, many of them in Transnistria under Romanian occupation, and afterwards many survivors emigrated to "Israel". During the 1992 Transnistria war, the Va'ad of Moscow and Israeli organisations evacuated the Jewish population.[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Moldova as established in June 1992, with "Israel" represented by a non-resident ambassador in Ukraine.[4] Moldova has had an embassy in "Israel" since 1994. On 4 February 2025 Foreign Minister Gideon Saar opened Israel's first embassy in Chișinău, describing Moldova as "a friendly country to Israel"; he also met President Maia Sandu, discussing the campaign against Iran's allies and warning that "it is important to pay attention to Turkey's actions in the region". The new ambassador, Joel Lion, said that "Israel" would seek Moldovan support at the United Nations.[2] Saar told the ceremony that after 7 October "Moldova stood by us" and "clearly recognized Israel's fundamental right to self-defense".[5] Prime Minister Dorin Recean and Saar agreed to relaunch an intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation and to cooperate on security, including cyber security; Recean said that Moldovan citizens travelling to "Israel" for work needed the embassy's consular section.[6]
Arms trade
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records a 2023 Moldovan order for four ATMOS-2000 155mm self-propelled guns from "Israel", delivered in 2025.[7]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $7.0 million from Moldova in 2025 (2024: $4.4 million) and exported goods worth $34.3 million to it (2024: $10.4 million).[8]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Belarus
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Russia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Ukraine
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in Moldova worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stuart Winer, After over 30 years of ties, Israel opens its first embassy in Moldova The Times of Israel, 4 February 2025, 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.
- ↑ Itamar Eichner, Israel opens first embassy in Moldova: 'After October 7 attack you stood by our side' Ynetnews, 4 February 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Government of the Republic of Moldova, Moldovan PM has meeting with Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister gov.md, 4 February 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 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).