The first Jews arrived on the island in 1993. Navot and Tova Bornovski live in Palau. They operate the Fish’n’Fins diving centre and the Barracuda Restaurant. The family expanded and added four children, who were the first recorded Jewish children born on Palau. There have been other Jews here from time to time, but they usually come to work under contract and then leave.

Less than ten Jews live in Palau, with a few more that are half-Jewish. Most of the population, including the Jews, are involved in the tourism industry, a major part of the country’s economy. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has sent convoys of fisheries and agricultural exports to Palau to help train the local population.

The most recognized Jew in Palau is Larry Miller, Associate Justice on the Palauan Supreme Court. Stuart Beck, a Jewish-American lawyer who helped negotiate the Compact of Free Association which established Palau as an independent nation in 1994, holds honorary citizenship and was named Palau’s first Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2003.

Two cyclists from Palau represented the country at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, marking the first time that Palau sent athletes to that international sporting event.