https://powerbase.info/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Jewish%2C_Zionist_and_Israeli_connections_to_LatviaJewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Latvia - Revision history2026-10-26T00:25:11ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.14https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=Jewish,_Zionist_and_Israeli_connections_to_Latvia&diff=296525&oldid=prevGeography Bot: New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe W2b); every reference checked2026-10-25T12:34:28Z<p>New page: Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections (Europe W2b); every reference checked</p>
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{{short description|'''Latvia: its Jewish community, relations with "Israel" and Israeli arms purchases'''}}<br />
About 4,500 Jews lived in '''Latvia''' in 2023, the largest Jewish community in the Baltic region according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] (WJC).<ref name="WJCLV">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/LV Community in Latvia] ''worldjewishcongress.org'', accessed 25 October 2026.</ref> Latvia established relations with "Israel" in 1992<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> and has bought Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles.<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><br />
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==Jewish community==<br />
Most Latvian Jews live in Riga, with smaller communities in Dvinsk and Liepāja. The WJC says that there has been tension between the community and wider Latvian society "due to the continued honoring of Latvian veterans of SS Divisions from World War II". The Council of Jewish Communities of Latvia, at Skolas iela 6, Riga, LV-1010, is the WJC's affiliate and is made up of 13 communities in nine cities.<ref name="WJCLV" /><br />
==Israeli state and commercial ties==<br />
===Diplomacy===<br />
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with Latvia as established in January 1992, with "Israel" represented by its embassy in Riga.<ref name="MFA2011" /> The Israeli embassy is at Elizabetes iela 2, 3rd floor, Riga 1010.<ref name="WJCLV" /><br />
===Arms trade===<br />
SIPRI records Latvian purchases of Spike anti-tank missiles from a German production line, including a EUR108 million deal in 2018 and a EUR81 million deal for Spike-LR-2 missiles in 2025, with delivery planned from 2028, and a $100 million order in 2025 for UT-30 turrets for 42 ASCOD infantry fighting vehicles from Spain.<ref name="SIPRI" /><br />
===Trade===<br />
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $67.2 million from Latvia in 2025 (2024: $65.2 million) and exported goods worth $38.1 million to it (2024: $29.4 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 />
==Political interference==<br />
===UN voting===<br />
Latvia 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><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Denmark]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Finland]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Norway]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Sweden]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Estonia]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Lithuania]]<br />
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Iceland]]<br />
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==Notes==<br />
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[[Category:Zionist movement|Latvia]]<br />
[[Category:Latvia]]<br />
[[Category:Europe|Latvia]]</div>Geography Bot