List of Israeli Ashkenazi Jews

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This is a list of notable Israeli Ashkenazi Jews, including both original immigrants who obtained Israeli citizenship and their Israeli descendants.

Although traditionally the term "Ashkenazi Jews" was used as an all-encompassing term referring to the Jews descended from the Jewish communities of Europe, due to the melting pot effect of Israeli society the term "Ashkenazi Jews" gradually becomes more vague as many of the Israeli descendants of the Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants gradually adopted the characteristics of Israeli culture and as more descendants intermarry with descendants of other Jewish communities.

The list is ordered by category of human endeavor. Persons with significant contributions in two of these are listed in both of them, to facilitate easy lookup.

Politicians

• Chaim Weizmann – first President of Israel (1949–52)
• Yitzhak Ben-Zvi – first elected/second president President of Israel (1952–63)
• David Ben-Gurion – first Prime Minister of Israel (1948–54, 1955–63)
• Moshe Sharett – prime minister (1954–55)
• Levi Eshkol – prime minister (1963–69)
• Golda Meir – prime minister (1969–74)
• Yitzhak Rabin – prime minister (1974–77, 1992–95); Nobel Peace Prize (1994) (assassinated November 1995)
• Menachem Begin – prime minister (1977–83); Nobel Peace Prize (1978)
• Yitzhak Shamir – prime minister (1983–84, 1986–92)
• Shimon Peres – President of Israel (2007–); prime minister (1984–86, 1995–96); Nobel Peace Prize (1994)
• Benjamin Netanyahu – prime minister (1996–99), (2009–); was minister of finance; Likud party chairman
• Ehud Barak – prime minister (1999–01)
• Ariel Sharon – prime minister (2001–06)
• Ehud Olmert – prime minister (2006–09); former mayor of Jerusalem
• Rehavam Zeevi – founder of the Moledet party (assassinated October 2001)
• Yossi Beilin – leader of the Meretz-Yachad party and peace negotiator
• Yosef Lapid – former leader of the Shinui party
• Teddy Kollek – former mayor of Jerusalem

• 

  David Ben-Gurion

• 

  Chaim Weizmann

• 

  Yitzhak Rabin

• 

  Menachem Begin

• 

  Golda Meir

• 

  Ariel Sharon

• 

  Benjamin Netanyahu

Military

• Wolfgang Lotz – spy
• Moshe Dayan – military leader
• Giora Epstein – combat pilot, modern-day "ace of aces"
• Uziel Gal – designer of the Uzi submachine gun
• Tzvi Malkhin – Mossad agent, captured Adolf Eichmann
• Yonatan Netanyahu – Sayeret Matkal commando, leader of Operation Entebbe
• Ilan Ramon – astronaut on Columbia flight STS-107
• Gilad Shalit – kidnapped soldier held in Gaza
• Yitzhak Rabin – military leader and 5th Prime Minister of Israel
• Yigal Allon – politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF.
• Benny Gantz – current Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
• Yael Rom – the first female to graduate from a full military flight course in the Western world in general and in the Israeli Air Force in particular.

• 

  Yigal Allon

• 

  Moshe Dayan

• 

  Uziel Gal

• 

  Yitzhak Rabin

• 

  Ilan Ramon

• 

  Benny Gantz

• 

  Gilad Shalit

Religious figures

Religious-rabbis

• Avraham Yitzchak Kook, pre-state Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel,^[1] (1865–1935)
• Yona Metzger, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel
• Israel Meir Lau Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1993–2003), Chief Rabbi of Netanya (1978–88), (1937–)
• Aharon Lichtenstein
• David Hartman
• Shlomo Riskin Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Efrat

Haredi rabbis

• Uri Zohar – former film director, actor, and comedian who left the entertainment world to become a rabbi
• Avraham Yeshayeh Karelitz, Chazon Ish, (1878–1953)
• Elazar Menachem Shach, Rav Shach, (1899–2001)
• Moshe Shmuel Shapira, rosh yeshiva of Beer Yaakov
• Nissim Karelitz, Head Justice of Rabbinical Court of Bnei Brak
• Chaim Kanievsky
• Yosef Sholom Eliashiv
• Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
• Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky, Second Dushinsky Rebbe and Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, First Dushinsky Rebbe and Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Third Dushinsky Rebbe
• Yaakov Aryeh Alter, Gerrer Rebbe
• Yissachar Dov Rokeach, Belzer Rebbe
• Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg, Nadvorna-Kechnia Rebbe ^{[2] [3]}

Activists

• Natan Sharansky – Soviet-era human rights activist
• Uri Avnery – peace activist, Gush Shalom
• Yael Dayan – writer, politician, activist
• Michael Dorfman Russian-Israeli essayist and human rights activist
• Uzi Even – gay rights activist
• Uri Savir, peace negotiator, Peres Center for Peace
• Israel Shahak – political activist
• Daphni Leef – Israeli activist in 2011 sparked off one of the largest waves of mass protest in Israel's history
• Yehuda Glick - Israeli activist and rabbi who campaigned for expanding Jewish access to the Temple Mount

Cultural and entertainment figures

Film, TV, and stage

Natalie Portman - actress Menahem Golan - director and producer Mili Avital – actress Ayelet Zurer – actress Mike Burstyn – actor Chaim Topol – actor Alona Tal – actress Zachi Noy – actor Ari Folman – director Oded Fehr – actor Uri Geller – TV personality, self-proclaimed psychic Hanna Laslo – actress Gila Almagor – actress Mikhail Kozakov - director, actor Uri Zohar – former film director, actor, and comedian who left the entertainment world to become a rabbi Dudu Topaz – TV personality, comedian, actor, screenwriter, playwright, author and radio and television host Haim Yavin – long-serving TV anchor Ya'akov Eilon - News anchorman Miki Haimovich - News anchorwoman Yonit Levi - News anchorwoman Dan Shilon - television host, director, and producer Yaron London - media personality, journalist, actor and songwriter Moti Kirschenbaum - media personality and documentarian Avri Gilad - media personality

Shaike Ophir – actor Hanna Maron – actress Assi Dayan – actor, director Eytan Fox – director Amos Gitai – director Amos Kollek – director, writer Yisrael Poliakov – comedian, actor Shaike Ophir – comedian, actor Adir Miller – comedian, actor Zvika Hadar – comedian, actor Samuel Vilozny – comedian, actor Alma Zack – comedian, actress Tal Friedman – comedian, actor and musician Yuval Semo – comedian, actor Eyal Kitzis – actor, comedian and TV host Avi Kushnir – comedian, actor and host Tuvia Tzafir – comedian, actor Rami Heuberger – actor, comedian Keren Mor – actress, comedian Tzipi Shavit – comedian, actress Michal Yannai – actress Aki Avni – actor Anat Atzmon – actress Odeya Rush - actress

• 

  Natalie Portman

• 

  Yisrael Poliakov

• 

  Assi Dayan

• 

  Uri Geller

• 

  Zvika Hadar

• 

  Yaron London

• 

  Menahem Golan

• 

  Gila Almagor

• 

  Yonit Levi

• 

  Odeya Rush

Popular musicians

Chava Alberstein – singer/songwriter Yardena Arazi – singer and TV host Shlomo Artzi – singer/songwriter Miri Ben-Ari – jazz and hip hop violinist Mike Brant – French-language singer David Broza – singer/songwriter Matti Caspi – singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Arik Einstein – singer, actor, writer Aviv Geffen – singer/songwriter Gidi Gov – singer Shlomo Gronich – singer and composer Ehud Manor - songwriter and translator Arkadi Duchin – singer-songwriter and musical producer

Esther Ofarim – singer Idan Raichel – Ethiopian and Israeli music Yoni Rechter – composer and arranger Naomi Shemer – songwriter Svika Pick – pop singer and composer Danny Sanderson – musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist Uzi Hitman – singer, songwriter, composer and television personality Dana Berger – singer Shlomo Gronich – singer Yaffa Yarkoni – singer Hillel Slovak – guitarist Meir Ariel – singer Izhar Ashdot – singer Yoni Bloch – rock singer, songwriter and composer Gene Simmons - rock singer, bassist and co-vocalist of the band Kiss.

• 

  Gidi Gov

• 

  Yardena Arazi

• 

  Svika Pick

• 

  Shlomo Artzi

• 

  Matti Caspi

• 

  Aviv Geffen

• 

  Ivri Lider

• 

  Chava Alberstein

• 

  Yoni Bloch

• 

  Dana Berger

• 

  Gene Simmons

Classical musicians

Moshe Atzmon – conductor Daniel Barenboim – conductor and pianist Rami Bar-Niv - pianist and composer Paul Ben-Haim – composer Bart Berman – pianist Gary Bertini – conductor Natan Brand – pianist Nir Brand – conductor Yefim Bronfman – pianist Avner Dorman – composer Dror Elimelech – composer Giora Feidman – clarinetist Ivry Gitlis – violinist Matt Haimovitz – cellist Ofra Harnoy – cellist Eliahu Inbal – conductor Amir Katz – pianist Yoel Levi – conductor Mischa Maisky – cellist

Shlomo Mintz – violinist Itzhak Perlman – violinist Shulamit Ran – composer Leon Schidlowsky – composer Inbal Segev – cellist Gil Shaham – violinist Hagai Shaham – violinist Michael Shani – conductor Noam Sheriff – composer Gil Shohat – composer Josef Tal – composer Yoav Talmi – conductor Arie Vardi – pianist Ilana Vered – pianist Pinchas Zukerman – violinist Sharon Kam – clarinetist Yael Naïm – solo singer/musician Yardena Arazi – solo singer

Writers

Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes) – author, Nobel Prize in Literature (1966) Nathan Alterman – poet Yehuda Amichai (Ludwig Pfeuffer) – poet Aharon Appelfeld – author, Prix Médicis étranger (2004) Ron Ben-Yishai – journalist Nahum Benari – author and playwright Max Brod – author, composer and friend of Kafka Orly Castel-Bloom – author Yehonatan Geffen – author, poet and lyricist Leah Goldberg – poet Uri Zvi Greenberg – poet David Grossman – writer Batya Gur – author Haim Hefer – songwriter, poet and writer. Amira Hass – journalist and author Shmuel Katz – author and journalist Etgar Keret – author Ephraim Kishon – satirist Hanoch Levin – playwright

Julius Margolin – writer Aharon Megged – author Samir Naqqash – novelist Uri Orlev – author, Hans Christian Andersen Award (1996) Amos Oz (Amos Klausner) – author and journalist, Goethe Prize (2005) Dahlia Ravikovich – poet Meir Shalev – author and journalist Zeruya Shalev – author Moshe Shamir – author, poet Naomi Shemer – songwriter and lyricist Mati Shemoelof – poet, editor and journalist Avraham Shlonsky – poet Avraham Stern – poet Abraham Sutzkever – Yiddish poet A.B. Yehoshua – author Nathan Zach – poet Dahn Ben Amotz – author Zelda – poet Benny Ziffer – author, journalist and translator

• 

  Shmuel Yosef Agnon

• 

  Nathan Alterman

• 

  Etgar Keret

• 

  Amos Oz

• 

  Haim Hefer

Artists

• Yaacov Agam – kinetic artist
• Yitzhak Danziger – sculptor
• Dudu Geva – artist and comic-strip illustrator
• Nachum Gutman – painter
• Israel Hershberg – realist painter
• Shimshon Holzman – painter
• Uri Fink – comic book artist and writer.

Models

• Rina Mor – model
• Bar Refaeli – model
• Yael Goldman – model
• Yael Bar Zohar – model
• Gal Gadot – model
• Hilla Nachshon – model
• Adi Himmelbleu – model
• Nina Brosh – model
• Esti Ginzborg – model
• Galit Gutmann – model
• Shiraz Tal – model
• Michaela Bercu – model
• Heli Goldenberg – former model and actress
• Pnina Rosenblum – former model
• Anat Elimelech – model and actress that was murdered in 1997 by her partner

Academic figures

Physics and chemistry

• Yakir Aharonov – physicist, Aharonov–Bohm effect and winner of the 1998 Wolf Prize in Physics
• Jacob Bekenstein – black hole thermodynamics
• David Deutsch – quantum computing pioneer; 1998 Paul Dirac Prize winner
• Josef Imry, physicist
• Joshua Jortner and Rafi Levine – molecular energy; 1988 winner of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry
• Aaron Katzir, physical chemistry,
• Ephraim Katzir – immobilized enzymes; Japan Prize (1985) and the fourth President of Israel
• Zvi Lipkin, physicist
• Mordehai Milgrom – Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND)
• Yuval Ne'eman – the "Eightfold way"
• Asher Peres – quantum theory
• Alexander Pines - nuclear magnetic resonance; Wolf Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1991)
• Giulio Racah – spectroscopy
• Nathan Rosen – EPR paradox
• Dan Shechtman – chemist well known of his discovery of quasicrystals; Winner of the 1999 Wolf Prize in Physics and Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "the discovery of quasicrystals".^[4]
• Nathan Seiberg – string theory
• Igal Talmi, particle physics
• Reshef Tenne – discovered inorganic fullerenes and inorganic nanotubes
• Arieh Warshel - chemist, Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and contributed to the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems".^[5][6]
• Chaim Weizmann – acetone production

Biology and medicine

• Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko – ubiquitin system; Lasker Award (2000), Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2004)
• Moshe Feldenkrais – invented Feldenkrais method used in movement therapy
• Lior Gepstein – American College of Cardiology's Zipes Award for his development of heart cells and pacemakers from stem cells.^[7]
• Eyal Gur – selected by Newsweek as one of the world's top microsurgeons ^[7]
• Gavriel Iddan – inventor of capsule endoscopy
• Benjamin Kahn – marine biologist, defender of the Red Sea reef
• Yona Kosashvili - orthopedic surgeon and Chess Grandmaster
• Gideon Mer – malaria control
• Andy Lehrer, entomologist
• Shulamit Levenberg – inventor of a muscle tissue which isn't rejected by the body after transplant. Selected by Scientific American as one of the 50 leading scientists in the world.^[7]
• Alexander Levitzki – cancer research; Wolf Prize in Medicine (2005)
• Saul Merin – Ophthalmologist, author of Inherited Eye Diseases
• Raphael Mechoulam – Chemist, discoverer of tetrahydrocannabinol and anandamide
• Leo Sachs – blood cell research; Wolf Prize in Medicine (1980)
• Michael Sela and Ruth Arnon – developed Copaxone; Wolf Prize in Medicine (1998)
• Joel Sussman – 3D structure of acetylcholinesterase, Elkeles Prize for Research in Medicine (2005)
• Meir Wilchek – affinity chromatography; Wolf Prize in Medicine (1987)
• Ada Yonath – structure of ribosome. 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Amotz Zahavi – Handicap Principle

Social sciences

• Yehuda Bauer – historian
• Haim Ginott – psychologist: child psychology
• Eliyahu Goldratt – business consultant: Theory of Constraints
• Louis Guttman – sociologist
• Elhanan Helpman – economist: international trade
• Daniel Kahneman – behavioural scientist: prospect theory; Nobel Prize in Economics (2002)
• Smadar Lavie – anthropologist
• Amihai Mazar – archaeologist
• Benjamin Mazar – archaeologist
• Eilat Mazar – archaeologist
• Benny Morris and Avi Shlaim – historians: New Historians
• Erich Neumann – analytical psychologist: development, consciousness
• Nurit Peled-Elhanan – educator
• Ariel Rubinstein – economist
• Amos Tversky – behavioral scientist: prospect theory with Daniel Kahneman
• Yigael Yadin – archaeologist
• Daniel Elazar – political scientist

Computing and mathematics

• Ron Aharoni – mathematician, working in finite and infinite combinatorics.
• Noga Alon – mathematician, computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (2005)
• Shimshon Amitsur- mathematician ring theory abstract algebra
• Robert Aumann – mathematical game theory; Nobel Prize in Economics (2005)
• Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky – computer programmer well known being one of the main programmers of Junior (chess)
• Moshe Bar – computer programmer and creator and main developer of openMosix
• Yehoshua Bar-Hillel – philosopher, mathematician, and linguist, best known for his pioneering work in machine translation and formal linguistics
• Joseph Bernstein – mathematician, works in algebraic geometry, representation theory, and number theory
• Eli Biham – cryptographer and cryptanalyst, specializing inn differential cryptanalysis
• Aryeh Dvoretzky, mathematician
• Uriel Feige – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize(2001)
• Abraham Fraenkel – mathematician, known for his contributions to axiomatic set theory and the ZF set theory
• Hillel Furstenberg – mathematician; Wolf Prize in Mathematics (2006/7)
• Shafi Goldwasser – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (1993 and 2001)
• David Harel – computer scientist; Israel Prize (2004)
• Abraham Lempel and Jacob Ziv – LZW compression; IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2007 and 1995)
• Joram Lindenstrauss – mathematician, well known for the Johnson–Lindenstrauss lemma
• Elon Lindenstrauss – mathematician; well knownn in the area of dynamics, particularly in the area of ergodic theory and its applications in number theory; Fields Medal recipient (2010)
• Michel Loève – probabilist
• Joel Moses – MIT provost and writer of Macsyma
• Yoram Moses – computer scientist, winner of the 2000Gödel Prize in theoretical computer science and the 2009 Dijkstra Prize in Distributed Computing.
• Judea Pearl – computer scientist and philosopher; best known for championing the probabilistic approach to artificial intelligence and the development of Bayesian networks (see the article on belief propagation); ACM Turing Award winner (2011)
• Amir Pnueli – temporal logic; Turing Award (1996)
• Sheizaf Rafaeli – computer scientist, scholar of computer-mediated communication
• Shmuel Safra – computer scientist, winner of the (2001) Gödel Prize
• Nir Shavit- computer scientist, winner of the (2001) Gödel Prize
• Michael O. Rabin – nondeterminism, primality testing; Turing Award (1976)
• Adi Shamir – computer scientist; RSA encryption, differential cryptanalysis; Turing Award winner (2002)
• Saharon Shelah – mathematician, well known for logic; Wolf Prize in Mathematics winner (2001)
• Ehud Shapiro – computer scientist; Concurrent Prolog, DNA computing pioneer
• Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro – mathematician; representation theory; Wolf Prize in Mathematics winner (1990)
• Moshe Y. Vardi – computer scientist; Godel Prize winner (2000)
• Avi Wigderson – mathematician, known for randomized algorithms; Nevanlinna Prize winner (1994)
• Doron Zeilberger – mathematician, known for his contributions to combinatorics

Engineering

• David Faiman – solar engineer and director of the National Solar Energy Center
• Liviu Librescu – Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, killed in the Virginia Tech massacre
• Moshe Zakai – Electrical engineering
• Jacob Ziv – Electrical engineering

Philosophy

• Martin Buber – philosopher
• Joseph Raz – philosopher
• Yeshayahu Leibowitz – philosopher
• Avishai Margalit – philosopher
• Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) – philosopher, historian

Humanities

• Shmuel Ben-Artzi, Bible scholar, father of psychologist Sara Netanyahu and father-in-law of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Aharon Dolgopolsky, linguist: Nostratic
• Moshe Goshen-Gottstein, Bible scholar
• Michael Oren, historian, educator, writer, and Israeli ambassador to the United States
• Hans Jakob Polotsky, linguist
• Chaim Rabin, Bible scholar
• Alice Shalvi, English literature, educator
• Gershon Shaked, Hebrew literature
• Shemaryahu Talmon, Bible scholar
• Emanuel Tov, Bible scholar

Architecture

• Neri Oxman, architect

Entrepreneurs and businesspeople

Technology

• Moshe Bar – founder of XenSource, Qumranet
• Naftali Bennett - founder of Cyota, current Member of the Knesset and leader of The Jewish Home political party.
• Safra Catz – president of Oracle
• Yossi Gross – recipient of almost 600 patents, founder of 27 medical technology companies in Israel and the Chief Technology Office officer of Rainbow Medical.
• Daniel M. Lewin – founder of Akamai Technologies
• Bob Rosenschein – founder of Kivun Computers, Accent Software, GuruNet, Answers.com, Curiyo (Israeli-based)
• Gil Schwed – founder of Check Point
• Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans – founders of Zend Technologies (developers of PHP)
• Ariki and Yossi Vardi, Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir – founders of Mirabilis (developers of ICQ)

Other industries

• Ted, Micky and Shari Arison – founder and owners of Carnival Corporation
• Jamie Geller - celebrity chef and founder of the Kosher Media Network
• Eli Hurvitz – head of Teva Pharmaceuticals
• Mordecai Meirowitz – inventor of the Mastermind board game
• Sammy Ofer – shipping magnate
• Yuli Ofer - real estate mogul
• Guy Oseary - talent agent, businessman, investor, and music manager. Founder of Maverick Records and personal music manager of American entertainer, Madonna.
• Stef Wertheimer – manufacturing industrialist

Sports

Association Football

• Ronnie Rosenthal – left winger/striker (national team), Maccabi Haifa, Liverpool, Tottenham, Watford^[8]
• Mordechai Spiegler, Soviet Union/Israel – striker (Israel national team), manager
• Eyal Berkovic – midfielder (national team), Maccabi Haifa, Southampton, West Ham United, Celtic, Manchester City, Portsmouth
• Yochanan Vollach – defender (national team), Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Haifa, HKFC; current president of Maccabi Haifa^[9]

• Giora Spiegel - midfielder (national team), Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Nahum Stelmach - striker (national team)

Basketball

• Miki Berkovich – Maccabi Tel Aviv
• David Blu (formerly "Bluthenthal"), US & Israel, Euroleague 6' 7" forward (Maccabi Tel Aviv)^[10]
• Tal Brody – US & Israel, Euroleague 6' 2" shooting guard, Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Tal Burstein – Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Tanhum Cohen-Mintz, Latvian-born Israeli, 6' 8" center; 2x Euroleague All-Star
• Shay Doron – Israel & US, WNBA 5' 9" guard, University of Maryland (New York Liberty)^[11]
• Lior Eliyahu, 6' 9" power forward, NBA draft 2006 (Orlando Magic; traded to Houston Rockets), but completing mandatory IDF service & playing in the Euroleague (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
• Tamir Goodman, US & Israel, 6' 3" shooting guard^[12]
• Yotam Halperin – 6' 5" guard, drafted in 2006 NBA draft by Seattle SuperSonics(Olympiacos)
• Gal Mekel – former point guard in NBA team Dallas Mavericks
• Amit Tamir – 6' 10" center/forward, University of California, PAOK Thessaloniki (Hapoel Jerusalem)^[13][14]

Boxing

• Hagar Finer, WIBF bantamweight champion^[15]
• Yuri Foreman, Belarusian-born Israeli US middleweight and World Boxing Association super welterweight champion^[16]
• Roman Greenberg ("The Lion from Zion"), International Boxing Organization's Intercontinental heavyweight champion

Fencing

• Boaz Ellis, foil, 5-time Israeli champion
• Lydia Hatoel-Zuckerman, foil, 6-time Israeli champion^[17][18]
• Andre Spitzer, killed by terrorists^[19]

Figure skating

• Alexei Beletski, Ukrainian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian^[20]
• Galit Chait – ice dancer, World Championship bronze 2002
• Natalia Gudina, Ukrainian-born Israeli – figure skater, Olympian^[21]
• Tamar Katz, US-born Israeli – figure skater^[22]
• Lionel Rumi, ice dancer
• Sergei Sakhnovsky – ice dancer, World Championship bronze 2002
• Michael Shmerkin, Soviet-born Israeli – figure skater^[23]
• Alexandra Zaretski, Belarusian-born Israeli – ice dancer, Olympian^[24]
• Roman Zaretski, Belarusian-born Israeli – ice dancer, Olympian^[25]

Sailing

• Zefania Carmel – yachtsman, world champion (420 class)^[26]
• Gal Fridman – windsurfer (Olympic gold: 2004 (Israel's first gold medalist), bronze: 1996 (Mistral class); world champion: 2002)^[27]
• Lydia Lazarov – yachting world champion (420 class)^[26]

Swimming

• Vadim Alexeev, Kazakhstan-born Israeli swimmer, breaststroke^[28]
• Adi Bichman – 400-m and 800-m freestyle, 400-m medley^[29]
• Yoav Bruck – 50-m freestyle and 100-m freestyle
• Eran Groumi – 100 and 200 m backstroke, 100-m butterfly
• Judith Haspel (born "Judith Deutsch"), Austrian-born Israeli; held every Austrian women's middle and long distance freestyle record in 1935; refused to represent Austria in 1936 Summer Olympics along with Ruth Langer and Lucie Goldner, protesting Hitler, stating, "I refuse to enter a contest in a land which so shamefully persecutes my people."^[30]
• Dan Kutler, US-born Israeli; 100-m butterfly, 4×100-m medley relay^[31]
• Keren Leibovitch, Paralympic swimmer, 4x-gold-medal-winner, 100-m backstroke, 50- and 100-m freestyle, 200-m individual medley
• Guy Barnea, Swimmer who participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Tal Stricker – 100- and 200-m breaststroke, 4×100-m medley relay^[32]
• Eithan Urbach – backstroke swimmer, European championship silver & bronze; 100-m backstroke^[33]

Tennis

• Noam Behr^[34]
• Ilana Berger^[35]
• Gilad Bloom^[36]
• Jonathan Erlich, 6 doubles titles, 6 doubles finals; won 2008 Australian Open Men's Doubles (w/Andy Ram), highest world doubles ranking # 5^[37]
• Shlomo Glickstein, highest world singles ranking # 22, highest world doubles ranking # 28
• Julia Glushko^[38]
• Amos Mansdorf, highest world singles ranking # 18
• Shahar Pe'er (3 WTA career titles), highest world singles ranking # 11, highest world doubles ranking # 21

Other

• Alex Averbukh – pole vaulter (European champion: 2002, 2006)^[39]
• Boris Gelfand, Emil Sutovsky, Ilya Smirin – chess Grandmasters (~2700 peak ELO rating)
• Michael Kolganov – Soviet-born Israeli, sprint canoer/kayak paddler, world champion, Olympic bronze 2000 (K-1 500-meter)
• Josh Cartu – Canadian-Born Israeli, Ferrari AFCorse Test Pilot, Best Team, Gumball 3000 2013
• Marina Kravchenko, Ukrainian-born Israeli table tennis player, Soviet and Israel national teams^[40]
• Sofia Polgar - Hungarian-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. Sister of chess grandmasters Susan Polgar and Judith Polgar.

Criminals

• Baruch Goldstein – massacred 29 Arabs in the Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994.
• Zeev Rosenstein – mob boss and drug trafficker.
• Avraham Hirschson - politician who was among other things the former Israeli Minister of Finance, who was convicted of stealing close to 2 million NIS from the National Workers Labor Federation while he was its chairman.
• Gonen Segev – Former Israeli member of Knesset and government minister who was convicted for an attempt of drug smuggling, for forgery and electronic commerce fraud.
• Dudu Topaz – TV personality, comedian, actor, screenwriter, playwright, author and radio and television host who committed suicide in August 2009 after being charged with inciting violence against national media figures.
• Ehud Tenenbaum – computer hacker also known as The Analyzer who became famous in 1998 when he was caught by the FBI after hacking into the computers of NASA, the Pentagon, the Knesset and the US Army, and after installing trojan horse software on some of those computers.
• Hanan Goldblatt – actor, comedian and singer whom in 2008 was convicted of perpetrating acts of rape as well as other sex offenses against women in his acting class.

See also

• Israelis
• List of notable Israelis
• List of Ashkenazi Jews in central and eastern Europe
• List of Ashkenazi Jews in northern Europe
• List of Sephardic Jews in southern and western Europe
• List of Sephardic Jews in the Balkans
• Ashkenazi Jewish intelligence

References