Morocco is second largest source of Jewish migration to Israel, report says

Morocco, once home to one of the Arab world’s largest and oldest Jewish communities, has become the second biggest source of Jewish migration to Israel, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

The report revealed that around 160,000 Moroccan Jews moved to Israel after 1948. 

This makes the Morocco–Israel route the second most significant pathway of Jewish migration worldwide, just behind Ukraine–Israel, which saw about 170,000 migrants. Russia–Israel follows with roughly 150,000.

At its peak in the mid-20th century, Morocco’s Jewish population numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Today, fewer than 3,000 remain. 

The report points to a mix of political pressures in the region and economic and social incentives in Israel, including the “Law of Return,” which grants Jews automatic citizenship, as key drivers of this migration.

Unlike many migrants from the former Soviet Union, Moroccan Jews were largely recognized as fully Jewish under Israel’s religious criteria, giving them a more “homogeneous” presence in the country’s demographic makeup. 

This has contributed to their role as a foundational element in Israel’s early nation-building.

Globally, the number of Jews living outside their birth countries reached three million by 2020, up 28 percent from 1990. 

However, Jewish migration has grown more slowly than that of other religious groups. By comparison, migration among Hindus rose 48%, while non-religious populations increased 67 percent. 

Israel remains the primary destination, hosting 1.5 million Jews born abroad, over half of the world’s total Jewish migrants. 

The United States comes second, with around 400,000, followed by the UK and Australia.

Historically, Jewish communities across the Middle East, from Cairo and Baghdad to Damascus and Fes, have all but disappeared due to these migration waves and regional political shifts. 

The Pew report describes Morocco not only as a country of departure but also as a symbol of a period when Jews lived with relative integration within the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the Arab world.

While migration from Morocco peaked in the 1950s and 1960s, the pathway remains a significant chapter in the story of global Jewish migration.