Editing Israelis (section)

==Ethnic and religious groups==
{{See also|Doms in Israel}}
The main Israeli [[Ethnic group|ethnic]] and [[Religious denomination|religious groups]] are as follows:

===Jews===
{{Main|Israeli Jews|Jewish ethnic divisions|Gerim}}
{{Contains special characters|Hebrew}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
[[File:Behatted girls with matzah (5607814995).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Israeli girls in the 1960s, eating ''[[matzah|matzot]]''—[[unleavened bread]] traditionally eaten by Jews during [[Passover]]]]
Among the [[Sabra (person)|Israeli-born Jewish]] population, most are descended from [[Ashkenazi Jews]], [[Mizrahi Jews]], [[Sephardic Jews]], [[Ethiopian Jews]], and other [[Jewish ethnic divisions]]. Due to the historically large Mizrahi population and decades of ethnic intermixing, over 50% of Israel's current Jewish population is of at least partial Mizrahi descent.<ref name="Promised Land 2014">''My Promised Land'', by [[Ari Shavit]], (London 2014)</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2021}}

The CBS traces the paternal country of origin of Israeli Jews as of 2010 is as follows.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_24x&CYear=2011 |title=Jews, by Country of Origin and Age |date=26 September 2011 |work=Statistical Abstract of Israel |publisher=[[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] |language=en, he |access-date=11 February 2012 |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105202349/http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_24x&CYear=2011%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right"
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| Country of origin
! style="text-align:center;"| Born<br />abroad
! style="text-align:center;"| Israeli<br />born
! style="text-align:center;"| Total
! style="text-align:center;"| %
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| '''Total'''
| '''1,610,900'''
| '''4,124,400'''
| '''5,753,300'''
| '''100.0%'''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| ''Asia''
| ''201,000''
| ''494,200''
| ''695,200''
| ''12.0%''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Turkey|Turkey]]
| 25,700
| 52,500
| 78,100
| 1.4%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Iraq|Iraq]]
| 62,600
| 173,300
| 235,800
| 4.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Yemenite Jews|Yemen]]
| 28,400
| 111,100
| 139,500
| 2.4%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Persian Jews|Iran]]/[[History of the Jews in Afghanistan|Afghanistan]]
| 49,300
| 92,300
| 141,600
| 2.5%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in India|India]]/[[History of the Jews in Pakistan|Pakistan]]
| 17,600
| 29,000
| 46,600
| 0.8%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Syrian Jews|Syria]]/[[History of the Jews in Lebanon|Lebanon]]
| 10,700
| 25,000
| 35,700
| 0.6%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Other
| 6,700
| 11,300
| 18,000
| 0.3%
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| ''[[African Jews|Africa]]''
| ''315,800''
| ''572,100''
| ''887,900''
| ''15.4%''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Moroccan Jews|Morocco]]
| 153,600
| 339,600
| 493,200
| 8.6%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Algeria|Algeria]]/[[History of the Jews in Tunisia|Tunisia]]
| 43,200
| 91,700
| 134,900
| 2.3%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Libya|Libya]]
| 15,800
| 53,500
| 69,400
| 1.2%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Egypt|Egypt]]
| 18,500
| 39,000
| 57,500
| 1.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[Beta Israel|Ethiopia]]
| 81,600
| 38,600
| 110,100
| 1.9%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Other
| 13,100
| 9,700
| 22,800
| 0.4%
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| ''[[Jews and Judaism in Europe|Europe]]/[[Americas]]/[[History of the Jews in Oceania|Oceania]]''
| ''1,094,100''
| ''829,700''
| ''1,923,800''
| ''33.4%''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in the Soviet Union|Soviet Union]]
| 651,400
| 241,000
| 892,400
| 15.5%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Poland|Poland]]
| 51,300
| 151,000
| 202,300
| 3.5%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Romania|Romania]]
| 88,600
| 125,900
| 214,400
| 3.7%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]/[[History of the Jews in Greece|Greece]]
| 16,400
| 32,600
| 49,000
| 0.9%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Germany|Germany]]/[[History of the Jews in Austria|Austria]]
| 24,500
| 50,600
| 75,200
| 1.3%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in the Czech Republic|Czech Republic]]/[[History of the Jews in Slovakia|Slovakia]]/[[History of the Jews in Hungary|Hungary]]
| 20,000
| 45,000
| 64,900
| 1.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in France|France]]
| 41,100
| 26,900
| 68,000
| 1.2%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[British Jews|United Kingdom]]
| 21,000
| 19,900
| 40,800
| 0.7%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Europe, other
| 27,000
| 29,900
| 56,900
| 1.0%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| North America/Oceania
| 90,500
| 63,900
| 154,400
| 2.7%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews of Argentina|Argentina]]
| 35,500
| 26,100
| 61,600
| 1.1%
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| [[History of the Jews in Latin America|Latin America]], other
| 26,900
| 17,000
| 43,900
| 0.8%
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| ''[[History of the Jews in the Land of Israel|Israel]]''
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| ''2,246,300''
| ''2,246,300''
| ''39.0%''
|}

===Arabic-speaking minorities===
{{Main|Arab citizens of Israel}}

====Arab Palestinians====
A large part of [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate]]-period [[Palestinian people|Arab Palestinians]] remained within Israel's borders following the [[1948 Palestinian exodus|1948 exodus]] and are the largest group of Arabic-speaking and culturally Arab citizens of Israel. The vast majority of the Arab citizens of Israel are [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] Muslim, while 9% of them are [[Christianity in Israel|Christian]],<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arab_pop03e.pdf | title=The Arab Population of Israel 2003 | access-date=7 February 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201024709/http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arab_pop03e.pdf | archive-date=1 December 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and 7.1% of them are [[Druze]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/122/11_19_122b.pdf|title=The Druze population in Israel|date=24 April 2020|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)|access-date=17 March 2022|archive-date=16 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216205902/https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/122/11_19_122b.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 2013, the Arab population of Israel amounts to 1,658,000, about 20.7% of the population.<ref name="CBS_month_pop"/> This figure include 209,000 Arabs (14% of the Israeli Arab population) in East Jerusalem, also counted in the Palestinian statistics, although 98 percent of East Jerusalem Palestinians have either Israeli residency or Israeli citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2007n/11_07_084b.doc |title=Selected Statistics on Jerusalem Day 2007 (Hebrew) |date=14 May 2007 |publisher=[[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] |access-date=15 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128143317/http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2007n/11_07_084b.doc |archive-date=28 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to the Israeli [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)|Central Bureau of Statistics]] census in 2010, the Arab population in Israel lives in [[Arab localities in Israel|134 Arabic towns and villages]]; around 44% of them live in towns, while 48% of them in villages with the status of [[Local council (Israel)|Local council]], and around 4% live in small villages that are part of [[Regional council (Israel)|Regional council]].<ref name="Research"/> The Arab population in Israel is located in five main areas: [[Galilee]] (54.6% of total Israeli Arabs), [[Triangle (Israel)|Triangle]] (23.5% of total Israeli Arabs), [[Golan Heights]], [[East Jerusalem]], and Northern [[Negev]] (13.5% of total Israeli Arabs).<ref name="Research">{{cite web|url=http://raphael.geography.ad.bgu.ac.il/ojs/index.php/GRF/article/view/413|title=Housing Transformation within Urbanized Communities: The Arab Palestinians in Israel|date=27 February 2016|publisher=[[Geography Research Forum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003124409/http://raphael.geography.ad.bgu.ac.il/ojs/index.php/GRF/article/view/413|archive-date=3 October 2019}}</ref> Around 8.4% of Israeli Arabs live in officially mixed Jewish-Arab cities (excluding Arab residents in East Jerusalem), in [[Haifa]], [[Lod]], [[Ramle]], [[Jaffa]]-[[Tel Aviv]], [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], [[Nof HaGalil]], and [[Ma'alot Tarshiha]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iataskforce.org/sites/default/files/resource/resource-262.pdf|title=opic: Mixed Cities in Israel|date=20 June 2014|publisher=Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues|access-date=26 March 2022|archive-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912142625/http://iataskforce.org/sites/default/files/resource/resource-262.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Negev Bedouin====
{{Main|Negev Bedouin}}
{{See also|Galilee Bedouin}}
The Arab citizens of Israel also include the [[Bedouin]]. Israeli Bedouin include those who live in the north of the country, for the most part in villages and towns, and the Bedouin in the [[Negev]], who are semi-nomadic or live in towns or [[Unrecognized Bedouin villages in Israel|unrecognized Bedouin villages]]. In 1999, 110,000 Bedouin lived in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.<ref name="Bedouin Demographics">[http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfaarchive/1990_1999/1999/7/the%20bedouin%20in%20israel The Bedouin in Israel: Demography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026125647/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfaarchive/1990_1999/1999/7/the%20bedouin%20in%20israel |date=26 October 2007 }} [[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] 1 July 1999</ref> As of 2013, the [[Negev Bedouin]] number 200,000–210,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/arrests-at-protest-over-israel-bedouin-plan-20131130173443568410.html |title=Arrests at protest over Israel's Bedouin plan |work=[[Al Jazeera English]] |date=1 December 2013 |access-date=9 February 2014 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224210803/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/arrests-at-protest-over-israel-bedouin-plan-20131130173443568410.html?xif= |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="newint.org">{{Cite web|url = http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2013/07/23/bedouins-face-mass-eviction/|title = Israel's Bedouin population faces mass eviction| work=New Internationalist |date = 23 July 2013|access-date = 9 February 2014|archive-date = 5 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305011236/http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2013/07/23/bedouins-face-mass-eviction/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/The-Bedouin-in-the-Negev-and-the-Begin-Plan-4-Nov-2013.aspx |title=Behind the Headlines: The Bedouin in the Negev and the Begin Plan |work=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] |date=4 November 2013 |access-date=9 February 2014 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224210759/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/The-Bedouin-in-the-Negev-and-the-Begin-Plan-4-Nov-2013.aspx%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Druze====
{{Main|Israeli Druze}}
There is also a significant population of Israeli [[Druze]], estimated at 117,500 at the end of 2006.<ref>[http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton58/download/st02_02.xls Table 2.2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128014905/http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton58/download/st02_02.xls |date=28 January 2012 }}, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2007, No. 58.</ref> All Druze in [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate Palestine]] became Israeli citizens upon the foundation of the State of Israel.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Maronites====
{{Main|Maronites in Israel}}
There are about 7,000 [[Maronites in Israel|Maronite Christian]] Israelis, living mostly in the [[Galilee]] but also in [[Haifa]], [[Nazareth]], and [[Jerusalem]]. They are mostly pro-Israeli [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] former militia members and their families who fled Lebanon after the [[Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon#Withdrawal from the security belt|2000 withdrawal of IDF from South Lebanon]]. Some, however, are from local Galilean communities such as [[Jish]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Copts====
There are about 1,000 [[Copts|Coptic]] Israeli citizens.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Arameans====
{{Main|Arameans in Israel}}
In September 2014, Israel recognized the "Aramean" ethnic identity of hundreds of the Christian citizens of Israel. This recognition comes after about seven years of activity by the Aramean Christian Foundation in Israel – Aram, led by IDF Major [[Shadi Khalloul Risho]] and the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, headed by [[Father Gabriel Naddaf]] of the Greek-Orthodox Church and Major Ihab Shlayan. The Aramean ethnic identity encompasses all the Christian Eastern Syriac churches in Israel, including the [[Maronite Church]], [[Greek Orthodox]] Church, [[Greek Catholic]] Church, [[Syriac Catholic Church|Syriac Catholic]] Church and [[Syriac Orthodox]] Church. Many Israelis who advocated for and identify as Aramean today are Maronites, with Assyrians identifying as well.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24936/Default.aspx | title=Israel Today - Stay Informed, Pray Informed | access-date=21 September 2014 | archive-date=7 March 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307132630/https://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24936/Default.aspx/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299| title=Israel Recognizes Aramean Minority in Israel as Separate Nationality| newspaper=Haaretz| first=Jonathan| last=Lis| date=17 September 2014| access-date=21 September 2014| archive-date=17 September 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917165653/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=20169 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214122744/http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=20169 |date=14 December 2018 }}</ref>

====Assyrians====
{{Main|Assyrians in Israel}}
There are around 1,000 [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] living in Israel, mostly in [[Jerusalem]] and [[Nazareth]]. Assyrians are an [[Aramaic]]-speaking, [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Rite]] Christian minority who are descended from the ancient [[Mesopotamians]]. The old [[Syriac Orthodox]] monastery of Saint Mark lies in Jerusalem. Other than followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church, there are also followers of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] and the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]] living in Israel.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

===Other citizens===

====African Hebrew Israelites====
{{Main|African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem}}
The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem is a small religious community whose members believe they are descended from the [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of Israel. Most of the over 5,000 members live in [[Dimona, Israel]] although there are additional, smaller, groups in [[Arad, Israel|Arad]], [[Mitzpe Ramon]], and the [[Tiberias]] area. At least some of them consider themselves to be Jewish, but Israeli authorities do not accept them as such, nor are their religious practices consistent with "mainstream Jewish tradition."<ref>{{cite book|author=Martina Könighofer|title=The New Ship of Zion: Dynamic Diaspora Dimensions of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-YEcgmaAdAC|year=2008|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-1055-9|page=12|quote=The African Hebrew Israelites do not practice Judaism according to mainstream Jewish tradition and have not been accepted as Jews by the Israeli authorities.|access-date=1 March 2016|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928154904/https://books.google.com/books?id=M-YEcgmaAdAC|url-status=live}}</ref> The group, which consists of [[African Americans]] and their descendants, originated in [[Chicago]] in the early 1960s, moved to [[Liberia]] for a few years, and then immigrated to Israel.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Armenians====
{{Main|Armenians in Israel}}
There are about 4,000–10,000 [[Armenians|Armenian]] citizens of Israel (not including Armenian Jews). They live mostly in Jerusalem, including the [[Armenian Quarter]], but also in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jaffa. Their religious activities center around the [[Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] as well as churches in Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa. Although Armenians of [[Old Jerusalem]] have Israeli identity cards, they are officially holders of [[Jordan]]ian passports.<ref>Joyce M. Davis. [http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=548&pagetypeID=4&sitecode=HQ&pageno=3 Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729081526/http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=548&pagetypeID=4&sitecode=HQ&pageno=3 |date=29 July 2013 }}. Catholic Near East Welfare Association.</ref>

====Caucasians====
A number of immigrants also belong to various non-Slavic ethnic groups from the Former Soviet Union such as [[Tatars]], [[Armenian people|Armenians]], and [[Georgians]].

====Circassians====
{{Main|Circassians in Israel}}
[[File:Cherkess7.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Circassian youth showcasing traditional male and female Circassian costumes in Israel]]

In Israel, there are also a few thousand [[Circassians]], living mostly in [[Kfar Kama]] (2,000) and [[Rehaniya|Reyhaniye]] (1,000).{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} These two villages were a part of a greater group of Circassian villages around the [[Golan Heights]]. The Circassians in Israel enjoy, like [[Druze]]s, a ''status aparte''. Male Circassians (at their leader's request) are mandated for military service, while females are not.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====East Europeans====
Non-Jewish immigrants from the [[Post-Soviet states|former Soviet Union]] most of whom are [[Zera Yisrael]] (descendants of Jews) who are [[Russians]], [[Ukrainians]], [[Moldovans]] and [[Belarusians]], who were eligible to immigrate due to having, or being married to somebody who has, at least one Jewish grandparent. In addition, a certain number of former Soviet citizens, primarily women of Russian and Ukrainian ethnicity, immigrated to Israel after marrying Arab citizens of Israel who went to study in the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. The total number of those primarily of Slavic ancestry among Israeli citizens is around 300,000.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Finns====
Although most Finns in Israel are either Finnish Jews or their descendants, a small number of Finnish Christians moved to Israel in the 1940s before the independence of the state and have since gained citizenship. For the most part the original Finnish settlers intermarried with other Israeli communities, and therefore remain very small in number. A ''moshav'' near Jerusalem named "[[Yad HaShmona]]", meaning the Memorial for the eight, was established in 1971 by a group of Finnish Christian Israelis, though today most members are Israeli, and predominantly Hebrew-speaking.<ref>{{cite web|title=Front page Current Affairs Embassy Honorary Consulates Services Team Finland Finland in Israel History Finnish associations About Finland Links Feedback Contact Front page > Finland in Israel > Finnish associations Finnish Associations|url=http://www.finland.org.il/public/default.aspx?nodeid=39222&contentlan=2&culture=en-US|publisher=Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland|access-date=25 January 2014|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224210756/http://www.finland.org.il/public/default.aspx?nodeid=39222&contentlan=2&culture=en-US|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Landers|first=Ann|title=Readers Recall Heroic War Efforts|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/02/07/readers-recall-heroic-war-efforts/|access-date=25 January 2014|newspaper=NYT|date=7 February 1997|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224210754/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-02-07-9702070085-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Samaritans====
{{Main|Samaritans}}
The [[Samaritans]] are an [[ethnoreligious group]] of the [[Levant]]. Ancestrally, they are descended from a group of [[Israelites|Israelite]] inhabitants who have connections to ancient [[Samaria]] from the beginning of the [[Babylonian captivity]] up to the beginning of the [[Common Era]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} Population estimates made in 2007 show that of the 712 Samaritans, half live in [[Holon]] in Israel and half at [[Mount Gerizim]] in the West Bank. The Holon community holds Israeli citizenship, while the Gerizim community resides at an Israeli-controlled enclave ([[Kiryat Luza]]), holding dual Israeli-Palestinian citizenship.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Vietnamese====
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Vietnamese following the Hebrew teacher in the Ulpan at the Absorption Center in Afula.jpg|thumb|right|Ulpan for Vietnamese refugees in [[Afula]], 1979]]
The number of [[Overseas Vietnamese|Vietnamese people]] in Israel is estimated at 200–400.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=35 years on, where are Israel's Vietnamese refugees? |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/35-years-on-where-are-israels-vietnamese-refugees/ |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=31 July 2022 |archive-date=31 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731171524/https://www.timesofisrael.com/35-years-on-where-are-israels-vietnamese-refugees/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Most of them came to Israel between 1976 and 1979, after the Israeli Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]] granted them political asylum.<ref name="auto"/> The Vietnamese people living in Israel are Israeli citizens who also serve in the [[Israel Defense Forces]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} Today, the majority of the community lives in the [[Gush Dan]] area in the center of Israel but also a few dozen Vietnamese-Israelis or Israelis of Vietnamese origin live in [[Haifa]], [[Jerusalem]] and [[Ofakim]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

===Non-citizens===

====African refugees====
{{Further|Sudanese refugees in Israel}}	
[[File:Meeting between Sudanese refugees and Israeli students.jpg|thumb|right|Meeting between Sudanese refugees and Israeli students, 2007]]	
The number and status of African refugees in Israel is disputed and controversial, but it is estimated that at least 16,000 refugees, mainly from [[Eritrea]], [[Sudan]], [[South Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]] and the [[Ivory Coast]], reside and work in Israel. A check in late 2011, published in Ynet reported that the number just in Tel Aviv is 40,000, which represents 10 percent of the city's population. The vast majority lives in the southern parts of the city. There is also a significant African population in the southern Israeli cities of Eilat, Arad and Beer Sheva.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====Other refugees====
Approximately 100–200 refugees from [[Bosnia]], [[Kosovo]], and [[North Korea]] live in Israel as refugees, most of them with Israeli resident status.<ref>{{cite news|last=Eichner|first=Itamar|title=North Korean couple gets refugee status in Israel|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4024363,00.html|access-date=25 January 2014|newspaper=Ynet|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706230401/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4024363,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Israeli diaspora===
{{See also|Yerida}}
Through the years, the majority of Israelis who emigrated from Israel went to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

It is currently estimated that there are 330,000 native-born Israelis, including 230,000 Jews, living abroad, or even more.<ref>{{cite web|title=4. MIGRATION FROM ISRAEL|url=http://jppi.org.il/uploads/Migration_from_Israel.pdf|work=[[JPPI]]|access-date=25 January 2014|archive-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628135810/http://jppi.org.il/uploads/Migration_from_Israel.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of immigrants to Israel who later returned to their home countries or moved elsewhere is more difficult to calculate.

For many years definitive data on Israeli emigration was unavailable.<ref>Henry Kamm. "Israeli emigration inspires anger and fear;" ''New York Times'' 4 January 1981</ref> In ''The Israeli Diaspora'' sociologist Stephen J. Gold maintains that calculation of Jewish emigration has been a contentious issue, explaining, "Since Zionism, the philosophy that underlies the existence of the Jewish state, calls for return home of the world's Jews, the opposite movement – Israelis leaving the Jewish state to reside elsewhere – clearly presents an ideological and demographic problem."<ref>Stephen J. Gold. ''The Israeli Diaspora''; Routledge 2002, p.8</ref>

Among the most common reasons for emigration of Israelis from Israel are most often due to Israel's ongoing security issues, economic constraints, economic characteristics, disappointment in the Israeli government, as well as the excessive role of religion in the lives of Israelis.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

====United States====
{{See also|Israeli American}}
Many Israelis immigrated to the United States throughout the period of the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|declaration of the state of Israel]] and until today. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli-Americans.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} According to the [[2000 United States Census]], 106,839 Americans also hold Israeli citizenship, but the number of Americans of Israeli descent is around half a million.<ref name=jj-pop>{{cite news|last=PINI HERMAN|title=Rumors of mass Israeli emigration are much exaggerated|url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/rumors_of_mass_israeli_emigration_are_much_exaggerated_20120425|access-date=3 October 2013|newspaper=[[Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|Jewish Journal]]|date=25 April 2012|archive-date=28 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828112316/http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/rumors_of_mass_israeli_emigration_are_much_exaggerated_20120425|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lahav 2005 89">{{Cite book | author = Gallya Lahav | author2 = Asher Arian | title = 'Israelis in a Jewish diaspora: The multiple dilemmas of a globalized group' in International Migration and the Globalization of Domestic Politics ed. Rey Koslowski | place = London | publisher = Routledge | year = 2005 | pages = 89 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SG3ZXGZ_VvUC&q=Gallya+Lahav+and+Asher+Arian+Diaspora&pg=RA1-PA83 | isbn = 0-415-25815-4 | access-date = 1 November 2020 | archive-date = 28 September 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230928154826/https://books.google.com/books?id=SG3ZXGZ_VvUC&q=Gallya+Lahav+and+Asher+Arian+Diaspora&pg=RA1-PA83 | url-status = live }}</ref>

==== Russia ====
Moscow has the largest single Israeli [[expatriate]] community in the world, with 80,000 Israeli citizens living in the city as of 2014, almost all of them native Russian-speakers.<ref name="lubavitch.com"/><ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.575660 Russian-born Israelis chase capitalist dreams to Moscow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212091930/http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.575660 |date=12 February 2015 }} By Ofer Matan, 21 February 2014, Haaretz</ref> Many Israeli cultural events are hosted for the community, and many live part of the year in Israel. (To cater to the Israeli community, [[Cultural center|Israeli cultural centres]] are located in [[Moscow]], [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Novosibirsk]] and [[Yekaterinburg]].)<ref>[http://il4u.org.il/icc Israeli cultural centers (News)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722095000/http://il4u.org.il/icc |date=22 July 2019 }} http://il4u.org.il/icc</ref>

====Canada====
{{See also|Israeli Canadian}}
Many Israelis immigrated to Canada throughout the period of the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|declaration of the state of Israel]] and until today. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli-Canadians.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} According to the [[Canada 2006 Census]] as many as 21,320 Israelis lived in Canada in 2006.<ref name="www40.statcan.gc.ca">[http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo24a-eng.htm Immigrant population by place of birth and period of immigration (2006 Census)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309165723/http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo24a-eng.htm |date=9 March 2012 }}, Statistics Canada</ref>

====United Kingdom====
{{See also|Israelis in the United Kingdom}}
Many Israelis immigrated to the United Kingdom throughout and since the period of the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|declaration of the state of Israel]]. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli-British.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} According to the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|United Kingdom 2001 Census]], as many as 11,892 Israelis lived in the United Kingdom in 2001. The majority live in [[London]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

===2013 Supreme Court ruling on nationality===
In 2013 a three-judge panel of the [[Supreme Court of Israel]]'s headed by Court President [[Asher Grunis]] rejected an appeal requesting that state-issued identification cards state the nationality of citizens as "Israeli" rather than their religion of origin. In his opinion, Grunis stated that it was not within the court's purview to determine new categories of ethnicity or nationhood. The court's decision responded to a petition by Uzzi Ornan, who refused to be identified as Jewish in 1948 at the foundation of the state of Israel, claiming instead that he was "Hebrew." This was permitted by Israeli authorities at the time. However, by 2000, Ornan wanted to register his nationality as "Israeli". The Interior Ministry refused to allow this, prompting Ornan to file a suit. In 2007, Ornan's suit was joined by former minister [[Shulamit Aloni]] and other activists.<ref>{{cite web|title=Supreme Court rules against 'Israeli' ethnicity on ID|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/supreme-court-rules-israeli-ethnicity-doesnt-exist/|work=[[The Times of Israel]]|first=Aaron|last=Kalman|access-date=25 January 2014|archive-date=27 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127030050/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/debate/7707-court-denial-of-israeli-nationality-reinforces-discrimination|url-status=live}}</ref> In the ruling, Justice Hanan Melcer noted Israel currently considers "citizenship and nationality [to be] separate."<ref>{{cite news|title=High court rules: It is impossible to be Israeli|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/high-court-rules-it-impossible-be-israeli-201310201360824801.html|work=Al Jazeera|first=Neve|last=Gordon|date=21 October 2013|access-date=25 January 2014|archive-date=2 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002064847/https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/high-court-rules-it-impossible-be-israeli-201310201360824801.html|url-status=live}}</ref>