Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to the Philippines
the Philippines: the Jewish Association of the Philippines and the wartime refuge for about 1,200 Jews, the 1947 partition vote, diplomatic relations since 1957, about 30,000 Filipino caregivers in "Israel", Duterte's 2018 visit, and extensive Israeli arms sales
The Philippines has about 100 Jews, represented by the Jewish Association of the Philippines, and gave refuge to about 1,200 Jews fleeing Nazi Europe, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC). The WJC says it was the only Asian country to vote for the 1947 United Nations partition resolution.[1] It has had diplomatic relations with "Israel" since 1957,[2] about 30,000 Filipinos work in "Israel",[3] and the Philippines has bought a wide range of Israeli weapons, most of them since 2014.[4]
Jewish community and religious life
History and demography
According to the WJC, the first permanent Jewish settlers arrived in 1870 from Alsace-Lorraine, followed by Jews from Egypt, Syria and Turkey after the opening of the Suez Canal, American Jews after 1898, and Russian Jews after the First World War. The community organised formally in 1922 and consecrated its first synagogue, Temple Emil, named after its benefactor Emil Bachrach; it numbered about 500 by 1936. Under President Manuel Quezon's policy of admitting Jewish refugees, a plan devised with the US High Commissioner Paul McNutt, the businessman Herbert Frieder and Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower allowed 1,200 to 1,300 German and Austrian Jews to find refuge in the islands. DellaPergola estimated 100 to 300 Jews in 2000.[1]
Communal organisations
Jewish Association of the Philippines. The association is the WJC's Philippine affiliate. Its Beth Yaacov synagogue in Makati, built in 1983, follows the Syrian-Sephardi rite and has a social hall, classrooms and a mikveh; the community also runs a kindergarten, Etz HaHaim, and produces its own kosher meat.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of the Philippines
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry lists an embassy in Manila since August 1957 and an honorary consul in Cebu.[2] The WJC describes the two countries' relations as "warm" and notes that a monument honouring the Philippines was put up in Rishon LeZion's Holocaust Memorial Park in 2009.[1] In September 2018 Rodrigo Duterte visited Jerusalem; during the visit Israeli and Philippine companies signed 21 agreements, six of them on weapons manufacturing, cyber security or intelligence. They included a plan for the Israeli small-arms maker EMTAN Karmiel to transfer technology to Armscor for a weapons factory in the Philippines, a memorandum between Integrated Computer Systems and Verint Systems on "security, intelligence data mining", and a shipping agreement with ZIM.[5]
Filipino workers in "Israel"
About 30,000 Filipinos were working in "Israel" in October 2023. Four Filipino caregivers were killed in the attack of 7 October 2023.[3] A year later the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv held a memorial for them.[6]
Military ties
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Israeli deliveries to the Philippines since the 1980s, most of them since 2014. They include radars for FA-50 combat aircraft and South Korean-built frigates, Spike anti-tank and Spike-NLOS missiles, Hermes-450 and Hermes-900 drones, three SPYDER air-defence systems (a PHP6.4 billion, $125 million deal) with Python and Derby missiles, ATMOS-2000 self-propelled guns, Sabrah light tanks from a $172 million project, and Shaldag fast attack craft built partly under licence in the Philippines as the Acero class. SIPRI notes that two Blue Horizon drones bought in 2001 were "for use against Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim rebels".[4]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $160.5 million from the Philippines in 2025 (2024: $172.7 million) and exported goods worth $183.4 million to it (2024: $179.8 million).[7]
Political interference
UN voting
The Philippines voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[8]
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Indonesia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Malaysia
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Singapore
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Thailand
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Vietnam
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 World Jewish Congress, Community in the Philippines 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 Jacob Lazaro, DFA reports 4th PH death; Gaza mass exit 'any day now' Philippine Daily Inquirer, 20 October 2023, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ PH, Israeli businessmen sign 21 deals during Duterte trip Rappler, 5 September 2018, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Pia Lee-Brago, Philippine embassy pays tribute to victims of Hamas attack The Philippine Star, 8 October 2024, 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).