What Do You Call Someone From Israel? (Helpful Content!)

Someone from Israel is called Israeli. This is the simplest term for someone of Israeli nationality in the legal sense. Ethnically speaking, most Israelis are of Jewish descent, although this is by no means a monolithic term; there are many different Jewish ethnicities. There are also many ethnic minorities living in Israel.

So, there are many ways we might refer to any given individual Israeli person.

Israeli is itself a legal nationality and identifier, and many Israelis may be comfortable with this term alone.

On the other hand, many may feel their ethnic background is more important in one way or another than their Israeli nationality.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What is someone from Israel called?

The simple answer is that someone from Israel is called Israeli.

This is the catch-all term for a person who is, in one way or another, associated with Israel primarily as their national identity.

However, the real picture is a great deal more complex; it is with any nation, really, but in many ways even more so with Israel.

Firstly, in general, one’s nationality is not always the same as one’s ethnic identity, and in many cases the latter is the far more important part of who someone is.

Israel, then, is a huge ethnic melting pot of many different groups.

Any and all of these people may feel themselves to be Israeli, something else, or even both.

The two primary Ethnic groups are the Jews and Arabs, though there are also around six minority ethnic groups: the Druze, Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Circassians, and Samaritans.

The Jews represent around 75% of the population, at around 6.5 million people.

This broader Jewish group can be further subdivided in two ways: as non-Haredi, representing around 62% of the total population, and Haredi Jews, about 11% of the population.

Non-Haredi Jews are largely Orthodox Jewish, whereas Haredi Jews are characterized by a stricter adherence to Jewish law, or halakha.

Even then, though, the groups of Jewish people in Israel can be split further into many ethnic groups: Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Beta, Cochin, Bene and Karaite—the list goes on.

These groups largely represent different diaspora groups that have migrated away from Israel in the past and returned later on.

There are also around 1.8 million Arabs represented in the population of Israel, again coming from a range of specific backgrounds.

This comprises around 20% of the total population, as well as a further 4.5% made up of other ethnic groups. Israel, then, is by no means an ethnic monolith.

Where does the name “Israel” come from?

Israel as a nation state today is a very recent invention.

The country achieved independence in 1948 and formally adopted the name “Israel” based on the Biblical term relating to the Hebrew nation.

The name referred to a descendent of Israel, an ancient people mentioned in the Bible.

Many other historical names were considered for the nation of Israel such as Zion and Judea when the modern nation state was first formed.

The name ultimately relates to the patriarch of Judaism, Jacob, who was given the name Israel after a successful struggle with an angel.

So, though the country as we know it today is relatively young, the name “Israel” stretches far back into the greatest mists of time, and was for a long time synonymous with the Jewish people.

The Jewish people have long felt Israel to be their ancestral home as described in the events of the Old Testament and of course in other written historical sources.

Is it Israeli or Israelite?

Today, Israeli refers to a specific nationality.

To be Israeli means you are a citizen of the modern nation-state of Israeli, whether you are Jewish or Arab.

This is a modern term that you will not hear used in any kind of historical context.

Again, it’s important to remember that though the term “Israel” has historically only been associated with Jewish people, today it is more generally applied to those citizens of Israel.

“Israelite”, on the other hand, is a term mostly used for people of ancient Israel, indeed sometimes only for direct descendants of Jacob.

The Israelites were a particular group in Biblical times who were God’s chosen people, and who lived in what is today considered the Jewish ancestral homeland.

Where do Israelis live?

In all this, it’s also important to be aware of the extent of Israeli diaspora around the world.

There are around 8.3 million Israelis living in Israel itself, but you’ll also find lots of Israeli citizens in the United States.

Estimates vary a lot, but there are between 100,000 and half a million Israelis living in America today.

A further 100,000 Israeli people can be found in Russia, as well as 70,000 more in India.

There are also large populations of Israelis in the U.K., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany.

Any of these people may feel multiple things to be true of their nationality; they are both Israeli and now associated with the country to which they have moved.

So, there are more than a few ways of looking at it. Israel is a complex place with a fairly large mixture of different cultures and identities, even within its Jewish population.

Broadly speaking, though, the simplest answer is that someone from Israel of Israeli nationality is Israeli, and this is the simplest way of looking at it.

For any given individual, though, the question may be more complex and relate more closely to their ethnic identity.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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