https://powerbase.info/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Jewish%2C_Zionist_and_Israeli_connections_to_AlbaniaJewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Albania - Revision history2026-10-26T00:25:10ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.14https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=Jewish,_Zionist_and_Israeli_connections_to_Albania&diff=296576&oldid=prevGeography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe wave 3a W3a); every reference checked2026-10-25T12:49:09Z<p>New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe wave 3a W3a); every reference checked</p>
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{{short description|'''Albania: its small Jewish community, Holocaust-era protection of Jews and relations with "Israel"'''}}<br />
Between 40 and 50 Jews lived in '''Albania''' in 2023, according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC), which says that many Albanians helped and protected Jews during the Holocaust.<ref name="WJCAL">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/AL Community in Albania] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 25 October 2026.</ref> Albania abstained on the September 2025 UN resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.<ref name="UNNY2025">United Nations General Assembly, [https://www.alquds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Voting-rec-L.1-Rev.1.pdf 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'').</ref><br />
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==Jewish community==<br />
The Albanian Jewish Community is the WJC's affiliate. A Greek-based Chabad rabbi runs the Hechal Shlomo Synagogue in Tirana.===Chabad===<br />
:''Main article: [[Chabad-Lubavitch movement]]''<br />
The WJC notes that a Chabad rabbi based in Greece operates the Hechal Shlomo Synagogue.<ref name="WJCAL" /><br />
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==Holocaust==<br />
According to the WJC, about 600 Jews, most of them refugees from Nazi persecution, were living in Albania before the Second World War. The Italian authorities who occupied the country from April 1939 tended not to enforce anti-Jewish laws, and "many Albanians helped and protected their country’s Jews during the Holocaust years". After Germany took control in 1943, some 600 Jews were sent to Nazi camps; only around 100 of those sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survived.<ref name="WJCAL" /><br />
==Israeli state and commercial ties==<br />
===Diplomacy===<br />
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Albania as established in August 1991, with "Israel" represented by its ministry in Jerusalem and an honorary consul.<ref name="MFA2011">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805075305/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/about%20the%20ministry/diplomatic%20missions/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations] ''mfa.gov.il'', archived 5 August 2011.</ref> The WJC says that Albania "recognized Israel as the Jewish State in 1945" and that the two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1991. In 2020 Albania became the first Muslim-majority country to formally adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The Israeli embassy is at Rruga Abdyl Frasheri, EGT Tower, 14th floor, Tirana.<ref name="WJCAL" /><br />
===Trade===<br />
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $5.3 million from Albania in 2025 (2024: $8.0 million) and exported goods worth $42.8 million to it (2024: $32.6 million).<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy).</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bosnia and Herzegovina]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bulgaria]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Croatia]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Greece]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kosovo]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Montenegro]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Macedonia]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Romania]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Serbia]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Slovenia]]<br />
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==Notes==<br />
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[[Category:Zionist movement|Albania]]<br />
[[Category:Albania]]<br />
[[Category:Europe|Albania]]</div>Geography Bot