On November 30, Israel marks the Day of Departure and Expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran, honoring the almost a million Jews who were expelled from their countries of birth after 1948 (>850,000 from the Arab world & 100,000 from Iran).
According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, in 1948, there were 265,000 Jews in Morocco, 140,000 in Algeria, 105,000 in Tunisia, 38,000 in Libya, 100,000 in Egypt, 30,000 in Syria, 7,000 in Lebanon, 60,000 in Yemen, and 135,000 in Iraq.
Today, there are fewer than 10 Jews in Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya. There are 50 in Algeria, 20 in Lebanon, 30 in Syria, and a couple of thousand in both Morocco and Tunisia. Iran has around 9,500 Jews as of 2025.
The annual commemorative day was adopted by the Knesset in 2014. The particular date was chosen because the expulsions worsened as a result of the United Nations’ 1947 vote on partition (November 29), making November 30 the symbolic start of the exoduses.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time of the vote: “It is not for nothing that this day is marked on the day after November 29. The Arab countries, which never accepted the UN declaration on the establishment of a Jewish state, compelled the Jews living in their territories to leave their homes while leaving their assets behind.”
“In several instances, the deportations were accompanied by pogroms and violence against Jews. We have acted – and will continue to act – so that they and their claims are not forgotten,” he continued.
Several significant pogroms happened on, or just after, November 30, 1947. This included the Aden Pogrom (Nov 30 – Dec 2, 1947), during which 82 Jews were murdered, and Jewish homes, shops, and synagogues were destroyed in the Yemenite city. At the same time, anti-Jewish riots broke out in Aleppo, Syria, which led to hundreds of Jewish homes being burned, ancient synagogues and Torah scrolls being destroyed, and over 7,000 Jews being displaced.
Israel rescued entire Jewish communities
Such violent outbursts against Jews became prevalent across much of the region following the 1947 partition plan.
In some instances, the newly founded State of Israel acted to rescue entire Jewish communities in Arab countries. One such example was “Operation Magic Carpet,” also known as “Operation On Wings of Eagles,” in 1949-50, where Israel airlifted almost 50,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel in a rescue mission facilitated by British and American aircraft.
A couple of years later, in 1951, Israel airlifted between 120,000 and 130,000 Jews out of Iraq in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.
Iraq’s Jewish community had existed for more than 2,500 years and was a cultural center of Judaism where the Babylonian Talmud was written and compiled. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, the community came under attack.
Writing on X/Twitter, Omri Schwartz said “My grandparents, along with the entire Jewish community of Iraq, were expelled after 2,000 years of presence. After Israel’s victory in 1948, the population took its revenge against the Jews of the Arab world, their neighbors. The Jews had to flee and, in the vast majority of cases, with nothing.”
“It’s barely imaginable, but the Jews made up 20% of Baghdad; today, only four Jews remain in all of Iraq.”
Libya is considered to be one of the locations of the worst post-World War II anti-Jewish violence in Arab countries.
During the Holocaust, thousands of Libyan Jews were deported to various camps, both inside and outside Libya. Some were sent to Bergen-Belsen camp, and all somehow survived. However, those who made it back to Libya continued to suffer; in November 1945, there was a three-day pogrom against the Jews in Tripoli, where 120 Jews were murdered, hundreds were wounded, and at least five synagogues were completely destroyed.
In 1948, antisemitic rioters killed 12 Jews and destroyed 280 homes. However after this, 30,972 Jews immigrated to Israel. Then, a new law in 1961 required a special permit to prove Libyan citizenship, and nearly all Jews were denied it. Around 6,000 were airlifted to Rome a few years later. When Muammar al-Qaddafi came to power in 1969, there were only 100 Jews remaining in Libya. No Jews remained in the country by 2004.
On November 24, 1956, a proclamation was signed and read aloud in mosques throughout Egypt declaring that “all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state.” Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave the country and were allowed to take only one suitcase and a small sum of cash after being forced to sign a declaration “donating” their property to the Egyptian government.
Many Jews today recall UN Watch’s Director Hillel Neuer’s ‘Where are your Jews?’ speech at a Human Rights Council meeting in 2017.
Addressing various members of the commission, he asked, “How many Jews live in your countries? How many Jews lived in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco?”
“Once upon a time, the Middle East was full of Jews. Algeria had 140,000 Jews. Algeria, where are your Jews? Egypt used to have 75,000 Jews. Where are your Jews? Syria had tens of thousands of Jews. Where are your Jews? Iraq had over 135,000 Jews. Where are your Jews?”
On Sunday, to mark the Day of Departure and Expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran, Neuer reposted the video, alongside the caption: “still waiting for an answer.”