Jewish Population
1948: 75,000 | 2019: 17
The history of Jews in Egypt traces back to Biblical times. Israelite tribes first moved to the Land of Goshen (the northeastern edge of the Nile Delta) during the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IV or Akhenaten (1375-1358 BC). During the reign of Ramses II (1298-1232 BC), they were enslaved for the Pharaoh’s building projects. His successor, Merneptah, continued the same anti-Jewish policies, and around the year 1220 BC, the Jews revolted and escaped across the Sinai to Canaan. This is the biblical Exodus commemorated in the holiday of Passover.
During the late 19th century and first part of the 20th century, Egyptian Jews enjoyed a period of prosperity, with substantial numbers of European Jews settling in Cairo and Alexandria. According to the 1897 census, 25,200 Jews lived in Egypt. By 1917, the number had increased to 59,581, and in 1937, there were 63,550, with 34,103 in Cairo, and 24,829 in Alexandria.
British rule saw Jews treated as important members of society, with little to no instances of anti-Semitism. However, the effects of British imperialism during the years of the Mandates (post-World War I) and the events of World War II saw a rise of Egyptian nationalism. A cultivation of anti-Western and anti-Jewish sentiment became linked to the Egyptian struggle for self-determination, and in 1945, riots erupted. During the course of the violence, 10 Jews were killed, 350 injured, and a synagogue, a Jewish hospital and an old-age home were burned down.
The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 exacerbated local anti-Jewish sentiments. 2,000 Jews were arrested and the state began confiscating Jewish property. A number of Jews were killed during the course of months of rioting, leading to an exodus of Egyptian Jews.
The Egyptian Jewish population continued to decline in the wake of the Sinai Campaign of 1956, which resulted in more rioting and arrests. By the following year, only 15,000 Jews were left in the country. The Six-Day War in 1967 saw a further wave of persecution, and as a result, the population dropped to only 2,500 persons. By the 1970s, after the remaining Jews were given permission to leave the country, the community dwindled to a few families.
Jewish rights were finally restored in 1979 after President Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Accords with Israel. Only then was the Egyptian Jewish community allowed to establish ties with Israel and with world Jewry. Today, the Egyptian Jewish community is incredibly small and almost entirely concentrated in Cairo. Nearly all the Jews are elderly, and the community is on the verge of extinction. There are thought to be 5 elderly people in Cairo and another 12 in Alexandria.