Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe wave 3c W3c); every reference checked

2026-10-25T13:03:19Z

New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe wave 3c W3c); every reference checked

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{{Zionist movement sidebar}}
{{short description|'''Bulgaria: its Jewish community, the wartime rescue and deportations, and relations with "Israel"'''}}
Between 2,000 and 6,000 Jews live in '''Bulgaria''', according to an estimate by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research cited by the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC).<ref name="WJCBG">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/BG Community in Bulgaria] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 25 October 2026.</ref> During the Second World War the deportation of about 48,000 Jews from Bulgaria was prevented, while 11,434 Jews from Bulgarian-occupied territories were deported to Treblinka.<ref name="WJCBG" />

==Jewish community==
The community includes elderly Sephardim, families who returned to communal life after the fall of communism, and Israeli families who have moved to Bulgaria in the last 20 years. The Organization of Jews in Bulgaria "Shalom" is the WJC's affiliate.<ref name="WJCBG" />
===Chabad===
:''Main article: [[Chabad-Lubavitch movement]]''
The WJC lists Chabad among the bodies that support Bulgarian Jewish life.<ref name="WJCBG" />

==Holocaust and aliyah==
The WJC says that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, including Metropolitans Stefan and Kiril, and other Bulgarian leaders "managed to prevent the deportation of approximately 48,000 Jews from Bulgaria". It also says that "with the assistance of Bulgarian administrative and police authorities", 11,434 Jews from Aegean Thrace, Macedonia and the city of Pirot were deported between 18 and 29 March 1943 to Treblinka, where nearly all of them died. After the war most surviving Jews who emigrated went to Palestine and then "Israel", and the communist government adopted anti-Zionist measures.<ref name="WJCBG" />
==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===Diplomacy===
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Bulgaria as renewed in May 1990, with "Israel" represented by its embassy in Sofia, with an honorary consul in Varna.<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> According to the WJC, Bulgaria recognised "Israel" in 1948 and embassies were opened in 1952; relations were suspended in 1967 and restored in 1990. The Israeli embassy is at 18 Shipchenski Prohod, 1113 Sofia.<ref name="WJCBG" />
===Arms trade===
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records 25 SandCat armoured vehicles ordered by Bulgaria in 2008.<ref name="SIPRI">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database] ''SIPRI'', trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.</ref>
===Trade===
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $343.8 million from Bulgaria in 2025 (2024: $259.5 million) and exported goods worth $61.5 million to it (2024: $78.6 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>
==Political interference==
===UN voting===
Bulgaria voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly 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>

==See also==
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Albania]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Croatia]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Greece]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Kosovo]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Montenegro]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to North Macedonia]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Romania]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Serbia]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Slovenia]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Europe|Bulgaria]]

Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Bulgaria - Revision history

Geography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe wave 3c W3c); every reference checked