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Moroccan Jews in Israel - Wikipedia

Captured 2025-11-23

127

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Moroccan Jews in Israel - Wikipedia

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This Wikipedia page provides a comprehensive overview of Moroccan Jews in Israel, documenting one of the country's largest ethnic communities and their significant migration from Morocco to Israel throughout the 20th century. The article serves as both a demographic study and historical chronicle, focusing on a population that numbers approximately 900,000 to nearly one million people according to different estimates, making them the second-largest Jewish community in Israel. The page combines statistical data with detailed historical narratives to paint a complete picture of this substantial demographic group. The article presents compelling migration data, revealing that 274,180 individuals emigrated from Morocco to Israel between 1948 and 2016, with the 2019 Israeli census recording 472,800 Jews born in Morocco or with Moroccan-born fathers. The content traces the historical progression of this migration, beginning with early 20th-century movements influenced by French colonial policies in Morocco. A particularly fascinating aspect is the detailed account of the first wave of migration from 1908-1918, when 60-80 young families from Fez, including the Ohana, Zana, Mimeran, Turgeman, and Aifraga families, settled primarily in Jerusalem and Tiberias. The article includes a touching personal story about Moshe Vezana, born aboard a ship during the journey to Israel in 1911, whose birth certificate alternately listed him as Tunisian or Israeli native, illustrating the complex identity issues faced by these migrants. The historical context reveals how various political and social factors drove successive waves of emigration, from the impact of Vichy laws during World War II that excluded Jewish children from French schools, to the tensions following each Arab-Israeli conflict. The page explains how young Moroccan Jews joined "Gahal" forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and how domestic strife in Morocco during the 1950s accelerated emigration. By the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the majority of Morocco's Jewish population—once the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world—had relocated to Israel, fundamentally transforming both Moroccan and Israeli Jewish demographics. The article demonstrates Wikipedia's strength in synthesizing demographic data with personal narratives and historical analysis. It cites multiple sources including Israeli census data and the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry, though some sections are marked as needing citations. The page effectively captures the linguistic diversity of this community, noting that while Hebrew serves as the main language for all generations, older generations maintain connections to Moroccan Berber, Judeo-Berber, Moroccan Arabic, Judeo-Moroccan Arabic, French, and Moroccan Ladino. This comprehensive approach makes the article valuable for researchers studying Middle Eastern demographics, Jewish diaspora communities, and 20th-century migration patterns.

Citation (APA Style)

Moroccan Jews in Israel - Wikipedia. (2025, 11 23). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_Jews_in_Israel

Technical Metadata

Domain en.wikipedia.org
File Size 226 KB
Archived 2025-11-23T00:38:34.029917
Document ID #127
Languages 5 available