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Michael Oren

Michael Bornstein Oren (Hebrew: מייקל אורן; born Michael Scott Bornstein; May 20, 1955) is an American-Israeli diplomat, essayist, historian, novelist, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party and a former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

Oren has written books, articles, and essays on Middle Eastern history and foreign affairs, and is the author of the New York Times best-selling Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide, Power, Faith and Fantasy, and Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, which won the Los Angeles Times History Book of the Year Award and the National Jewish Book Award. Oren has taught at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown universities in the United States and at Ben-Gurion and Hebrew universities in Israel. He was a Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and a contributing editor to The New Republic. The Forward named Oren one of the five most influential American Jews, and The Jerusalem Post listed him as one of the world's ten most influential Jews.

Oren retired as ambassador to the United States in 2013, and was replaced by Ron Dermer. In the 2015 Israeli election, Oren was elected to the Knesset for the Kulanu party.

Personal life and background
Oren was born Michael Scott Bornstein in upstate New York, the son of Marilyn (née Goldstein), a marriage and family therapist, and Lester Milton Bornstein, a hospital director. His father had served as an officer in the U.S. Army who took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and participated in the Korean War. Oren grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, in a Conservative Jewish household. He attended West Orange Mountain High School. In his youth, he was an activist in Zionist and Jewish youth groups such as United Synagogue Youth. Reading about and working with then–Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yitzhak Rabin, strengthened Oren's decision to move to Israel and eventually become ambassador to the United States himself. Oren won two gold medals and one silver medal at the 1977 Maccabiah Games in rowing, a sport in which he remains active. At age 15, he made his first trip to Israel with the youth movement Habonim Dror, working on Kibbutz Gan Shmuel. In 1973, Oren won first prize in the PBS National Young Filmmaker's contest for the film, Comrades in Arms, which he wrote and directed. In the summer of 1976, he worked as gofer for Orson Welles.

In 1977 Oren completed his BA degree in International Relations from Columbia College. He continued his studies at Columbia, receiving an MA degree in International Affairs in 1978 from the School of International and Public Affairs, where he was an International Fellow and a DACOR Fellow. After college, he spent a year as an adviser to the Israeli delegation to the United Nations.

In 1979 Oren immigrated to Israel. Upon assuming Israeli citizenship, he changed his last name from "Bornstein" to "Oren", meaning "pine tree" in Hebrew. He renounced his American citizenship in 2009 upon his nomination as ambassador to the United States, since Israeli law prohibits international representatives from holding dual nationality.

A few years later, Oren returned to the United States to continue his education, receiving both his MA in 1984 and PhD in 1986 in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

Oren was the Lady Davis Fellow of Hebrew University and a Moshe Dayan Fellow at Tel Aviv University.

In 1982 he married Sally Edelstein, who was born in San Francisco and immigrated to Israel in 1981. They have three children. In an article published in The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg profiled Sally's acquaintance with rock stars Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane. Marty Balin, one of the main songwriters of Jefferson Airplane, wrote two songs about her in the 1960s.

Oren's nephew is comedian Jon Rudnitsky.

Oren has three children, and six grandchildren. He currently lives in Jaffa with his partner Tamara Pechtold.

Military service
In 1979, Oren began his military service as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. He served as a paratrooper in the 1982 Lebanon War. His unit was caught in a Syrian ambush on the second day of the war. His commander was killed and nearly everyone was wounded. He then joined a unit stationed in Sidon. A day after his wedding, in the summer of 1982, Oren returned to Beirut.

Following his regular military service, Oren volunteered to work with the Zionist underground in the Soviet Union. Sent to make contact with Zionist groups in Ukraine, he was repeatedly arrested by the KGB.

During the Persian Gulf War he was Israeli liaison officer to the U.S. Sixth Fleet. He was called up for reserve duty for the 2005 Gaza disengagement, and participated in the evacuation of settlements. He served as an officer in the IDF Spokesman's Office during the 2006 Lebanon War. and the 2008–2009 Gaza War.

In February 2009, he delivered a lecture at Georgetown University on "The Gaza Operation: A Personal and Historical Perspective". The Today Show broadcast a special segment, "The Oren Family at War."

Academic career
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Oren taught at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In 1995, during the government of Yitzhak Rabin, Oren served as an advisor in inter-religious affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

In 2006, Oren was a visiting professor at both Harvard University and Yale University, returning to Yale in 2007. Beginning in 2008, he became a visiting professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service for the 2008–09 academic year as part of the faculty associated with the Program for Jewish Civilization.

President George W. Bush appointed Oren to serve on the honorary delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.

While working at a think-tank in Jerusalem, Oren publicly opposed the 2003 Iraq war, believing at the time that America "should not get involved in state-building in a region where states are only held together by savage central power."

In 2004, a United States Department of State symposium was convened about the Six-Day War in response to the findings of the 2003 Moorer Commission and the 2004 release of Captain Ward Boston’s affidavit pertaining to the 1967 USS Liberty incident. Oren was amongst the speakers at the event, along with Marc J. Susser (the State Department’s official historian), A. Jay Cristol (who had just released his first book excusing the Liberty attack), and James Bamford (an author and Liberty advocate). During the symposium, Oren reiterated the official version of events and maintained that the attack was a case of mistaken identity. When several Liberty survivors, including former Petty Officer First Class Joseph C. Lentini and former Petty Officer Phillip F. Tourney, attempted to speak after the floor had been opened to questions, the State Department shut down the symposium.

Oren was named ambassador-in-residence at the Atlantic Council in 2014.

Ambassadorship
On May 3, 2009, Oren was appointed as ambassador of Israel to the United States by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, succeeding Sallai Meridor. Ambassador Oren had to give up his United States citizenship in order to assume this post.

Oren strongly criticized the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict report, which determined Israel was guilty of possible war crimes. In an October 2009 op-ed in The New Republic, he stated, "The Goldstone Report goes further than Ahmadinejad and the Holocaust deniers by stripping the Jews not only of the ability and the need but of the right to defend themselves."

In October 2009, Oren declined an invitation to attend a conference hosted by J Street, an Israel advocacy group, which has been critical of the Israel government's foreign policy, calling the organization "significantly out of the mainstream." However, according to Oren, later actions from the group put J Street "much more into the mainstream."

Oren has initiated Israel outreach events for Irish Americans, Latino and LGBT leadership, and the Chinese embassy. He hosted the Israeli embassy's first Iftar dinner.

On February 8, 2010, Oren spoke at the University of California, Irvine. During his speech Oren was interrupted by students who shouted, among other things, "Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech." The students, who became known as the Irvine 11, were first disciplined by the university and then had criminal charges brought against them. On September 23, 2011, a jury convicted them of disrupting Oren's speech. The charges and conviction were criticized by civil liberties advocates, as well as both Jewish and Muslim student groups.

Oren has lectured at numerous universities across the United States.

Following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010, Oren wrote an op-ed in The New York Times, "An Assault, Cloaked in Peace", in which he accused the organizers of the flotilla of attempting to "create a provocation" in order to "put international pressure on Israel to drop the Gaza embargo". He further made the claim that the Mavi Marmara was "a vessel too large to be neutralized by technical means".

While serving as ambassador to the U.S., Oren visited the United States Naval Academy in January 2012. Prior to his arrival, the midshipmen were ordered to not ask about or mention the controversial 1967 USS Liberty incident. According to several midshipmen, the pre-visit instructions were along the lines of, “It is not appropriate, in a setting like this, to bring up any major points of contention during conversation, current or historical. It is okay to talk about issues like Iran or the two-state solution, where our nations have a largely common view. But it’s not okay to bring up grievances like the USS Liberty, if you are familiar with that incident.” Oren spoke about the friendship between the U.S. Navy and the state of Israel: “His speech was primarily aimed at convincing a group of young midshipmen that Israel was their eternal and greatest ally. Drawing on historical anecdotes, he was able to create a sense of kinship between not just America and Israel, but the U.S. Navy and Israel.”

Oren attempted to influence a critical 2012 CBS report by Bob Simon about Palestinian Christians in Israel, with some calling his interference an attempt to silence the American media. Oren responded that at no point had he tried to prevent the 60 Minutes report, rather that he offered suggestions for balancing the segment.

On July 5, 2013, he announced that he would be leaving his post as ambassador to the United States in fall 2013. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, insiders say that Oren wanted to keep his job, but was removed because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior advisor Ron Dermer wanted the envoy post.

Oren has received four honorary doctorates and has delivered commencement speeches at Brandeis, Monmouth University, and Yeshiva University. In 2011, he received the Outstanding Achievers with Learning Disabilities Award from the Lab School of Washington, D.C. He delivered the keynote address at 2012 Equality Forum on LGBT rights in Israel. He was awarded the Scholar-Statesman Award from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. legacy prize for international service.

Political commentary
Oren has written many articles commenting on current political issues. Before assuming his diplomatic post, he published frequently in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, and The New Republic, where he was a contributing editor. He appeared on Charlie Rose, The Daily Show, and the Today Show. As ambassador, he has published nearly sixty op-eds and has given dozens of television interviews, including Bill Maher, Colbert Report, The View, and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. He served as the Middle East analyst for CNN and CBS.

His two full-length articles "Israel: The Ultimate Ally" and "Israel's Resilient Democracy", were published in Foreign Policy magazine.

In July 2014 Oren argued against a ceasefire and for the continuation of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, calling on the international community to leave Israel alone to defang and deprive Hamas of its heavy arms and make it pay a "prohibitive cost."

On June 15, 2015, Oren gave a speech at the Leonardo Hotel in Jerusalem, in which he said that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement poses a "strategic threat" to Israel, which needs to fight it "like a war, which it is". He also warned that the U.S. is gambling with Israel's future over Iran, saying that the U.S. "can afford to make a mistake" with them, while "Israel has zero room for error", adding: "The United States has the most powerful army in all of history, they're thousands of miles away from Iran, and they don't feel any direct threat. Israel is in Iran's backyard, and faces a clear and direct threat from Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The IDF is a strong military force, but does not have the capacity and magnitude the US Army has to deter aggression."

Also during June 2015, an op-ed piece by Oren published in The Wall Street Journal claimed that Barack Obama had deliberately sabotaged US-Israeli relations, resulting in Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon distancing himself and the party from Oren's stated views. Shortly afterwards another article by Oren was published by Foreign Policy, which argued that Obama's outreach to the Muslim world was partly rooted in "abandonment" by his father and stepfather. Oren was criticised by Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, who said that Oren's theorising resembled "conspiracy theories" and "amateur psychoanalysis", and characterised it as "borderline stereotyping". Foxman's successor at the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, later publicly apologized for the remark.

In 2015, Oren published Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide (June 2015), a New York Times bestseller which aimed to describe the recent state of Israel–US relations. The book has received both praise and criticism, including a negative review by Philip Gordon titled "Bibi's man in D.C., still spinning for the boss" and a positive review by Bret Stephens for The Wall Street Journal which called the book "the smartest and juiciest diplomatic memoir that I've read in years." In response to its controversial reception, Oren stated: "So far a lot of things have been said about me. ... I obviously touched a nerve." Noah Efron wrote in Haaretz that the book continued the self-professed "armchair psychoanalyzing" of the U.S. president and chided Oren for failing to assign any responsibility to Israeli for the decline in US-Israel relations.

Middle East history
Power, Faith and Fantasy, a history of American involvement in the Middle East, was published by Norton and quickly became a New York Times bestseller. Power, Faith and Fantasy earned positive reviews from Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times Book Review, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Willamette Week.

Oren's Six Days of War is an historical account of the events of the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The book was widely praised by critics and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History and the National Jewish Book Award. It spent seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The New York Times Book Review wrote positively of Six Days of War, as did The Washington Post, which called it "not only the best book so far written on the Six Day War, it is likely to remain the best". Oren's Ph.D. thesis, "The Origins of the Second Arab-Israel War: Israel, Egypt, and the Great Powers, 1952-1956," was published in 1992.

Fiction
Oren has written works of fiction for which he has been called a “disturbingly good writer” by Hadassah Magazine and “a master of the short story” by The Jerusalem Post.

Sand Devil, published in 2000, is a trilogy of novellas set in the Negev desert. Reunion, based on his father's stories from World War II, appeared in 2004.

The Night Archer and Other Stories, published in 2020, is a collection of fifty-one short stories. His novel, To All Who Call in Truth, was published in May 2021. His latest novel, Swann’s War, was described by Kirkus Reviews as “intriguing, wonderfully delineated, and tension-filled,” and awarded a star rating.

Knesset career
Oren was given the fourth spot on the list of the new Kulanu party before Israel's 2015 elections, adding foreign policy credentials to a party that campaigned almost exclusively on economic issues. He was elected and, on March 31, sworn in as a Member of Israel's 20th Knesset, serving on its Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. On August 1, 2016, it was announced that Oren would be appointed as deputy minister in the Prime Minister's office in charge of public diplomacy. Oren decided to forgo running in the elections for Israel's 21st Knesset.

Legislation
Oren supported the creation of a new Israeli national holiday, Yom HaAliyah (יום העלייה, Aliyah Day) to be celebrated annually on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan (י’ ניסן). On 21 June 2016 the Knesset voted in favor of adding Yom HaAliyah to the national calendar. The Yom HaAliyah bill was co-sponsored by Knesset members from different parties in a rare instance of cooperation across the political spectrum. The day chosen for Yom HaAliyah is, according to the biblical narrative, the day Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River at Gilgal into the Promised Land. It was thus the first documented "mass Aliyah".

Published work

 * Sand Devil. Toby Press (2000) ISBN 1592642128.
 * Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Presidio Press (2002) ISBN 978-0-345-46192-6.
 * Reunion. New York: Plume. (2003) ISBN 978-1-931561-26-6.
 * Power, Faith and Fantasy: The United States in the Middle East, 1776 to 2006. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. (2007) ISBN 978-0-393-33030-4.
 * New Essays on Zionism. Shalem Press. (2007) ISBN 978-965-7052-44-0 (editor, with David Hazony and Yoram Hazony).
 * The Origins of the Second Arab-Israeli War. Routledge (2013) ISBN 1138977799.
 * Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide. Random House (2015) ISBN 978-081-2996-41-8.
 * The Night Archer and Other Stories. Wicked Son (2020)
 * To All Who Call in Truth. Wicked Son (2021)
 * Swann's War. Dzanc Press (2022)
 * Israel 2048: The Rejuvenated State. Toby Press (English, Hebrew and Arabic) (2023)

title: Michael Oren


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USS Sutton (DE-771)

USS Sutton (DE-771) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1948. In 1956, she was transferred to South Korea, where she served as Kang Won (F-72) until 1977. The ship was then cannibalized for spare parts in the Philippines.

Namesake
Shelton B. Sutton Jr. was born on 21 August 1919 in Brewton, Georgia. He was appointed ensign in United States Naval Reserve on 21 April 1941. On 12 February 1942, he was ordered to the 3rd Naval District to await transportation to light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52). He reported for duty in the cruiser on 2 March 1942. He was killed in action on 13 November 1942 when Juneau was torpedoed and sunk by an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

The destroyer escort USS Sutton (DE-286) was named for him but its construction was cancelled in 1944.

History
USS Sutton was laid down on 23 August 1943 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, Florida; launched on 6 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Shelton B. Sutton, Sr.; and commissioned on 22 December 1944.

United States Navy (1944–1956)
After fitting out, Sutton sailed on 12 January 1945 for the Bermuda operating area and held her shakedown there until she headed for Boston, Massachusetts, on 14 February. After yard work at the Boston Navy Yard and training at Casco Bay, Maine, she was assigned to Escort Division (CortDiv) 79 which was attached to Task Group (TG) 22.13 and sailed for Argentia, Newfoundland, on 1 March. The group conducted anti-submarine patrols off Newfoundland from 4 to 22 March when it returned to Casco Bay. Sutton stood out of Casco Bay, on 3 April, with her task group which took station on the north–south antisubmarine barrier patrol.

Sutton and USS Neal A. Scott (DE-769) were relieved of patrol duty on 9 May to intercept the GERMAN SUBMARINE U-1228 which wished to surrender. They contacted the submarine the next day, and the two ships began escorting it to Casco Bay. However, Sutton was soon detached to accept the surrender of GERMAN SUBMARINE U-234. Sutton met the latter U-boat two days later, and she escorted it towards the United States. On 15 May, she put a 15-man boarding party on the submarine and embarked 37 prisoners. Sutton's destination was changed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she arrived with U-234 on the 19th. The submarine and the prisoners were delivered to a representative of the 1st Naval District. U-234 had left Germany with a cargo bound for Japan of a disassembled Messerschmitt Me 262 jet plane, two Japanese scientists (who both committed suicide upon hearing they would surrender and were buried at sea), and two high ranking German officers, including General der Flieger Ulrich Kessler of the Luftwaffe. While this was enough to create a media sensation, it was decades later before the U.S. government revealed that the submarine also carried a load of uranium oxide produced by the German atomic weapons program bound for a last-ditch Japanese effort. The approximately 550 kg of uranium dioxide was transferred to the Manhattan Project. Sutton steamed on to New York two days later and remained there until early June.

Sutton and CortDiv 79 departed New York for Jacksonville, Florida, on 10 June and arrived on the 14th. Sutton operated out of Mayport, Florida, until 29 August when she sailed for Charleston, South Carolina, and a yard overhaul which lasted all of September. She moved up the coast to Norfolk, Virginia, from 5 to 18 October when she sailed for the Gulf of Mexico. Sutton was at New Orleans, Louisiana, from 23 October to 6 November when she got underway for Norfolk. The escort operated from there until the fall of 1947 when she moved to New York to be inactivated. She was placed in reserve, out of commission, in September 1947 and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. In 1948, the destroyer escort was moved to Florida and joined the mothball fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida.

Republic of Korea Navy (1956–1977)
Sutton was loaned to the Republic of Korea on 2 February 1956 under the Grant Aid Program and served that government as ROKS Kang Won (F-72) until she was stricken on 28 December 1977 and sent to the Philippines for cannibalization of parts.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: USS Sutton (DE-771)


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Myriophyllum aquaticum

Myriophyllum aquaticum is a flowering plant, a vascular dicot, commonly called parrot's-feather and parrot feather watermilfoil.

Morphology and reproduction
Parrot feather is a perennial plant. Parrot feather gets its name from its feather-like leaves that are arranged around the stem in whorls of four to six. The emergent stems and leaves are the most distinctive trait of parrot feather, as they can grow up to a foot above the water surface and look almost like small fir trees. The woody emergent stems grow over 5 feet / 1.5m long and will extend to the bank and shore. Attached to the parrot feather are pinkish-white flowers that extend approximately 1/16 inches long. As the water warms in the spring, parrot feather begins to flourish. Most plants flower in the spring; however, some also flower in the fall. Almost all plants of this species are female, in fact there are no male plants found outside of South America. Seeds are not produced in any North American plants. Parrot feather reproduces asexually. New plants grow from fragments of already rooted plants. The plant has whorls of feathery blue-green to waxy gray-green leaves deeply cut into many narrow lobes.

Kasselmann recently described a new variety, M. aquaticum var. santacatarinense, which distinguishes itself from the typical variety by its more stiff and robust habitus and pinnae that are fewer and broader.

Habitat
Parrot feather is native to the Amazon River in South America, but it can now be found on every continent except Antarctica. It is thought that this plant was introduced to North America around the late 1800s. It was first discovered in the United States in the 1890s in Washington, D.C. Parrot's feather typically grows in freshwater streams, ponds, lakes, rivers, and canals that have a high nutrient content. During the 20th century it colonized areas in South Africa, Japan, England, New Zealand, and Australia. As it prefers a warmer climate, it is chiefly found in the southern parts of the United States.

Use and spread
Parrot feather is now used for indoor and outdoor aquatic use. It is a popular plant in aquatic gardens. It spreads easily and has become an invasive species and a noxious weed in many areas. The plant can be introduced to new areas when sections of its rhizome are dug up and moved. In Florida in the United States, flea beetles have been found to use parrot feather as a host for their larvae.

Problems
Because of its attractiveness and ease of cultivation, parrot feather has been introduced worldwide for use in indoor and outdoor aquaria. It is also a popular aquatic garden plant. However, it has escaped cultivation and spread via plant fragments and intentional plantings. While parrot feather may provide cover for some aquatic organisms, it can seriously change the physical and chemical characteristics of lakes and streams. The parrot feather grows abundantly, shades out naturally occurring algae, and clogs irrigation ducts and canals. The parrot feather typically exist in bundles and extend out of the water. In large numbers, the plants make a dense mat on the water's surface. Because of this, they shade the water from sunlight and cause native plants to die because of light deficiency. The organisms that feed on the native plants can die off due to starvation. The dense mats also cause problems for recreation. Swimmers and boat propellers can become entangled. The mats are also a breeding ground for mosquitos.

Cleanup efforts
Herbicides have not been found very useful in controlling its growth, partly because the plant has a waxy cuticle that seals out the poison. Cutting and chopping can actually promote the plant's spread. In the U.S. states of Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and Washington, parrot feather is a declared noxious weed and is therefore banned from sale.

The two main solutions to manage this aquatic nuisance is physically removing the plant and or using herbicides.

The physical aspects of removal are such acts of cutting, harvesting, and rotovation (underwater rototilling). These methods see best results only when the extent of the infestation has taken over all available niches. Best results are seen this way due to the availability of space as compared to rapid growth. Using physical control methods while the plant is still invading will tend to enhance its rate of spread.

Another method of controlling Parrots feather is by the usage of herbicides. The herbicides are effective to the plant part exposed above water. The plant parts beneath the water never come fully into contact with the herbicides and are therefore washed away. Herbicides are most effective when applied to young growing plants. They should be applied repeatedly to show maximum results. M. aquaticum is more difficult to control with herbicides than other aquatic species. The leaves are protected by a thick waxy coating, and in order for herbicides to penetrate the leaves, surfactants must be added; however, herbicides may impact non-target native plants or animals.

In the United Kingdom, this plant is now classed as an invasive species and is one of five introduced aquatic plants that were banned from sale from April 2014. This is the first ban of its kind in the country.

In Europe, parrot feather has been included in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list) since 2016. This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

title: Myriophyllum aquaticum


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Kellie Crawford

Kellie Lynn Crawford, née Hoggart (born 1 May 1974), is an Australian singer, actress and children's performer. Crawford was an original member of the Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 1998 to 2008 and was also a member of pop group Teen Queens. She left Hi-5 in December 2008 after ten years with the group.

Career
Crawford was born Kellie Lynn Hoggart on 1 May 1974. She began her career as a teenager appearing in Pizza Hut commercials. In 1991, at age 17, Crawford along with Liza Witt and Roxanne Clarke, formed an idea to bring back music from the past and recreate it as a pop music act. Initially, they tried to launch the project as a television idea set in the themed time of the 1960s. As the group experienced difficulties getting the television show off the ground, they diverted their attentions towards simply creating music. They decided to name the group The Teen Queens, and from 1992 to 1993 the group released three top ten ARIA singles.

After the group split in 1993, Crawford continued to act in television and movies, and appear in commercials for companies such as Pizza Hut.

Crawford was originally cast as Tracy Russell in Australia's long-running sitcom Hey Dad..!, but was replaced by Belinda Emmett.

Crawford's next breakthrough came in 1998 when she was enlisted to join the new children's band and television show Hi-5 as the group's oldest and most commercially experienced member. She featured with a puppet named "Chatterbox", better known as "Chats", voiced originally by co-cast member Charli Robinson (later Sophie Katinis, Erin Marshall and Noni McCallum). Kellie and Chats' segment of the show, Word Play, promoted and educated children on language skills and recognition of sounds and noises.

In October 2008, she announced that she would quit Hi-5 after ten years of commitment to the group alongside Nathan Foley. She was replaced by Lauren Brant.

Following her exit from children's entertainment group, Hi-5, Crawford was featured in a racy Ralph cover story. She expressed her desire to establish herself as an adult model and actress for the older demographic. This received mixed reception but Crawford was confident that she is constantly advocating positive messages for all her target audiences.

Crawford was announced as a judge for the Seven Network's talent program All Together Now in 2018.

Since 2019, Crawford has been based in Melbourne, Australia and is a freelance voice-over artist and television actress.

Personal life
Born in Sydney, Crawford was educated at the Meriden School in Strathfield, a suburb of Sydney. She is the youngest of two daughters; her older sister, Kyllé (born 22 May), played the character of Roberta 'Robbie' Henderson in ABC TV's The Ferals. Her parents are Dennis, a former professional footballer, and Sonjie. Kellie has mild dyslexia.

Through the show, she became good friends and eventually in 2002 began dating fellow Hi-5 cast member Nathan Foley. The couple became engaged in 2005 to be married in March 2007. On 7 December 2006, it was reported that Crawford and Foley had decided to end their engagement. Apparently, their breakup had occurred some time prior to the reports.

In 2007, Kellie became engaged to Addam Crawford. They married in May 2008. Addam died in October 2018.

title: Kellie Crawford


text:
History of the Jews in Iraq

The history of the Jews in Iraq (יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים, , lit. 'Babylonian Jews'; اليهود العراقيون, ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BCE. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities.

The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, known in Jewish sources as "Babylonia", traces its origins to the early sixth century BCE, when a large number of Judeans from the defeated Kingdom of Judah were exiled to Babylon in several waves by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. A few decades later, some had returned to Judah, following the edict of Cyrus. During this time, the Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt, significant changes in Jewish religious tradition were made, and the Judeans were led by individuals who made Aliyah from Babylonia, such as Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah.

Though not much is known about the community in Babylonia during the Second Temple and Mishnaic periods, scholars believe the community was still thriving and prospering at that time. The Jewish community of Babylonia rose to prominence as the center of Jewish scholarship following the decline of the Jewish population in the Land of Israel in the 3rd century CE. It became home to many important Talmudic yeshivas such as the Nehardea, Pumbedita and Sura Academies, and the Babylonian Talmud was compiled there. The Mongol invasion and Islamic discrimination under the Caliphates in the Middle Ages eventually led to its decline. Under the Ottoman Empire, the Jews of Iraq fared better. The community established modern schools in the second half of the 19th century. Driven by persecution, which saw many of the leading Jewish families of Baghdad flee for India, and expanding trade with British colonies, the Jews of Iraq established a trading diaspora in Asia known as the Baghdadi Jews.

The Iraqi Jewish community formed a homogeneous group, maintaining communal Jewish identity, culture and traditions. The Jews in Iraq distinguished themselves by the way they spoke in their old Arabic dialect, Judeo-Arabic; the way they dressed; observation of Jewish rituals, for example, the Sabbath and holidays; and kashrut. In the 20th century, Iraqi Jews played an important role in the early days of Iraq's independence.

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, persecution against Jews culminated in increased government oppression and cultural discrimination. The Iraqi government, while maintaining a public policy of discrimination against Iraqi Jews, simultaneously forbade Jews from emigrating to Israel out of concern for strengthening the nascent Israeli state. In 1950, the Iraqi government reversed course and permitted Jews to emigrate in exchange for renouncing their Iraqi citizenship. From 1950 to 1952, nearly the entire Iraqi Jewish population emptied out from Iraq to Israel through Operation Ezra and Nehemiah. Historians estimate that 120,000–130,000 Iraqi Jews (around 75% of the entire community) reached Israel. The remainder of the Jewish population continued to dwindle in the ensuing decades; as of the 2020s, less than a handful of Jews still reside in Iraq.

The religious and cultural traditions of Iraqi Jews are kept alive today in strong communities established by Iraqi Jews in Israel, especially in Or Yehuda, Givatayim and Kiryat Gat. According to government data as of 2014, there were 227,900 Jews of Iraqi descent in Israel, with other estimates as high as 600,000 Israelis having some Iraqi ancestry. Smaller communities upholding Iraqi Jewish traditions in the Jewish diaspora exist in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and the United States.

The term "Babylonia"
What Jewish sources called "Babylon" and "Babylonia" may refer to the ancient city of Babylon and the Neo-Babylonian Empire; or, very often, it means the specific area of Mesopotamia (the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers) where a number of Jewish religious academies functioned during the Geonic period (6th–11th century CE).

Early Biblical history
Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews, originated from Mesopotamia. The Ten Israelite Tribes from the northern Kingdom of Israel were exiled to Assyria from 730 BCE.

In the Bible, Babylon and the country of Babylonia are not always clearly distinguished; in most cases, the same word is used in reference to both places. In some passages, the land of Babylonia is called Shinar, while in the post-exilic literature, it is called Chaldea. In the Book of Genesis, Babylonia is described as the land in which Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh are located – cities that are declared to have formed the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom. Here, the Tower of Babel was located ; and it was also the seat of Amraphel's dominion.

In the historical books, Babylonia is frequently referred to (there are no fewer than thirty-one allusions in the Books of Kings), though the lack of a clear distinction between the city and the country is sometimes puzzling. Allusions to it are confined to the points of contact between the Israelites and the various Babylonian kings, especially Merodach-baladan (Berodach-baladan of ; compare ) and Nebuchadnezzar. In Books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah the interest is transferred to Cyrus (see, for example, ), though the retrospect still deals with the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, and Artaxerxes is mentioned once.

In the poetical literature of Israel, Babylonia plays an insignificant part (see, and especially Psalm 137), but it fills a very large place in the Prophets. The Book of Isaiah resounds with the "burden of Babylon", though at that time it still seemed a "far country". In the number and importance of its references to Babylonian life and history, the Book of Jeremiah stands preeminent in the Hebrew literature. With numerous important allusions to events in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah has become a valuable source in reconstructing Babylonian history within recent times. The inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar are almost exclusively devoted to building operations; and but for the Book of Jeremiah, little would be known of his campaign against Jerusalem.

Babylonian captivity and return to Zion
During the 6th century BCE, the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in three waves. These three separate occasions are mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. The first was in the time of Jehoiachin in 597 BCE, when, in retaliation for a refusal to pay tribute, the First Temple in Jerusalem was partially despoiled and a number of the leading citizens removed (Book of Daniel, ). After eleven years, in the reign of Zedekiah—who had been enthroned by Nebuchadnezzar—a fresh revolt of the Judaeans took place, perhaps encouraged by the close proximity of the Egyptian army. The city was razed to the ground, and a further deportation ensued. Five years later, Jeremiah records a third captivity. After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persians, Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return to their native land (537 BCE), and more than forty thousand are said to have availed themselves of the privilege. (See Jehoiakim; Ezra; Nehemiah.)

The earliest accounts of the Jews exiled to Babylonia are furnished only by scanty biblical details, although a number of archaeological discoveries (such as the Al-Yahudu Tablets) shed light into the social lives of the deportees; certain sources seek to supply this deficiency from the realms of legend and tradition. Thus, the so-called "Small Chronicle" (Seder Olam Zutta) endeavors to preserve historic continuity by providing a genealogy of the exilarchs ("Reshe Galuta") back to King Jeconiah. Jeconiah himself is made an exilarch.

The "Small Chronicle" states that Zerubbabel returned to Judea in the Greek period. Certainly, the descendants of the Davidic line occupied an exalted position among their brethren in Babylonia, as they did at that period in Judea. During the Maccabean revolt, these Judean descendants of the royal house had immigrated to Babylonia.

Achaemenid period
According to the biblical account, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great was "God's anointed", having freed the Jews from Babylonian rule. After the conquest of Babylonia by the Persian Achaemenid Empire Cyrus granted all the Jews citizenship and by decree allowed the Jews to return to Israel (around 537 BCE).

Subsequently, successive waves of Babylonian Jews emigrated to Israel. Ezra (fl. 480–440 BCE) returned from Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem (Ezra 7–10 and Nehemiah 8).

During the Second Temple period two large Jewish communities developed in Mesopotamia: one in northern Mesopotamia who attributed their ancestry to the Ten Lost Tribes, and one in central Mesopotamia associated with the Judean exiles.

The continuity of Jewish culture in Babylonia across the centuries is indicated by certain names which appear among Babylonian Jews in Ezra-Nehemiah and centuries later among Babylonian amoraim, but never in Judean sources, such as Shereviah.

Hellenistic period
Information regarding the early period of Jewish history in Iraq is extremely limited. But with Alexander the Great's campaign, some accurate information concerning the Jews in the East reached the western world. Alexander's army contained numerous Jews who refused, from religious scruples, to take part in the reconstruction of the destroyed Belus temple in Babylon. The accession of Seleucus Nicator, 312 BCE, to whose extensive empire Babylonia belonged, was accepted by the Jews and Syrians for many centuries as the commencement of a new era for reckoning time, called the Seleucid era, or in Jewish sources "minyan sheṭarot" (era of contracts), which was also officially adopted by the Parthians. Nicator's foundation of a city, Seleucia, on the Tigris is mentioned by the Rabbis; both the "Large" and the "Small Chronicle" contain references to him.

The important victory which the Jews are said to have gained over the Galatians in Babylonia (see II Maccabees – ) must have happened under Seleucus Callinicus or under Antiochus III. The last-named settled a large number of Babylonian Jews as colonists in his western dominions, with the view of checking certain revolutionary tendencies disturbing those lands.

The persecutions of Antiochus IV (168 BCE) appear to have been limited to Judea, and likely were not imposed on Babylonian Jews.

Parthian period
Mithridates (174–136 BCE) subjugated, about the year 160, the province of Babylonia, and thus the Jews for four centuries came under Parthian domination.

Jewish sources contain no mention of Parthian influence; the very name "Parthian" does not occur, unless "Parthian" is meant by "Persian", which occurs now and then. The Armenian prince Sanatroces, of the royal house of the Arsacides, is mentioned in the "Small Chronicle" as one of the successors (diadochoi) of Alexander. Among other Asiatic princes, the Roman rescript in favor of the Jews reached Arsaces as well (I Macc. 15:22); it is not, however, specified which Arsaces.

Not long after this, the Partho-Babylonian country was trodden by the army of a Jewish prince. The Syrian king, Antiochus VII Sidetes, marched, in company with Hyrcanus I, against the Parthians. When the allied armies defeated the Parthians (129 BCE) at the Great Zab (Lycus), the king ordered a halt of two days on account of the Jewish Sabbath and Feast of Weeks.

In 40 BCE the Jewish puppet-king, Hyrcanus II, fell into the hands of the Parthians, who, according to their custom, cut off his ears in order to render him unfit for rulership. The Jews of Babylonia, it seems, had the intention of founding a high-priesthood for the exiled Hyrcanus, which they would have made quite independent of Judea. But the reverse was to come about: the Judeans received a Babylonian, Ananel by name, as their high priest which indicates the importance enjoyed by the Jews of Babylonia. Philo speaks of the large number of Jews resident in that country, a population which was no doubt considerably swelled by new immigrants after the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE).

How free a hand the Parthians permitted the Jews is perhaps best illustrated by the rise of the little Jewish robber-state in Nehardea (see Anilai and Asinai). Still more remarkable is the conversion of the king of Adiabene to Judaism. These instances show not only the tolerance, but the weakness of the Parthian kings. The Babylonian Jews wanted to fight in common cause with their Judean brethren against Vespasian; but it was not until Trajan's Parthian campaign that they made their hatred felt; so that it was in a great measure owing to the revolt of the Babylonian Jews that the Romans did not become masters of Babylonia too.

At the height of the war, Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed. These events caused a wide dispersion of Jews in which many probably ended up in Babylonia. The Jews of Babylon would for the first time write prayers in a language other than Hebrew, such as the Kaddish, written in Judeo-Aramaic – a harbinger of the many languages in which Jewish prayers in the diaspora would come to be written in, such as Greek, Arabic, and Turkish.

Accustomed in Jerusalem from early times to look to the east for help, and aware, as the Roman procurator Petronius was, that the Jews of Babylon could render effectual assistance, Babylonia became with the fall of Jerusalem the very bulwark of Judaism. The collapse of the Bar Kochba revolt no doubt added to the number of Jewish refugees in Babylon.

In the continuous Roman–Persian Wars, the Jews had every reason to hate the Romans, the destroyers of their sanctuary, and to side with the Parthians, their protectors. Possibly it was recognition of services thus rendered by the Jews of Babylonia, and by the Davidic house especially, that induced the Parthian kings to elevate the princes of the Exile, who until then had been little more than mere collectors of revenue, to the dignity of real princes, called Resh Galuta. Thus, then, the numerous Jewish subjects were provided with a central authority which assured an undisturbed development of their own internal affairs.

In religious matters the Babylonians, like the whole diaspora, were in many regards dependent upon Judea. They went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the festivals, and were dependent on Judean authorities to fix the calendar. The early rabbis took for granted that their rulings would be followed in Babylonia as well as locally. That said, the influence was to some extent mutual: a number of early notable rabbis including Hillel the Elder, Nahum the Mede, and Nathan the Babylonian had ancestry in Babylonia or further east. In the 2nd century, Nisibis ("Netzivin") was such a center of rabbinic scholarship that figures like Eleazar ben Shammua could consider traveling there to study.

The Jews of northern Babylonia appear to have suffered severely from the Roman-Parthian and Roman-Sasanian wars; this, and possibly the growing power of Christianity in the area, appear to have led to a weakening of the Jewish community in northern Mesopotamia while the center of Jewish culture shifted to the center and south.

Sasanian period
A new ruling family from an ancient dynasty of Iranian priests took control of the region around 223 CE and imposed a new system of government based on Zoroastrianism and local Iranian identity, which often suppressed dissident factions and heterodox views. It dominated the area until the Muslim conquest in the seventh century CE and became known as the Sasanian Empire. The Babylonian Talmud was written during this time and is a source of information for the political, religious, social, and linguistic facets of the empire. Under the Sasanians, Babylonia became the province of Asoristan, with its main city, Ctesiphon, becoming the capital of the Empire.

Although there were some tensions between the Jewish community and Zoroastrian priests who sought to unify the entire empire under one religion and were less tolerant than their forebears during the early Sasanian era, the Jewish community's stature and their religious and communal autonomy were generally maintained. The Jewish communities in Mesopotamia flourished, particularly in the fourth century CE, as a result of Shapur's tolerant rule and the Christianization of the Roman Empire, which led to a large Jewish migration from Roman-controlled territory into the only Roman-independent region, the Sasanian Empire. While occasionally there were disputes between Jews and the authorities, the Talmudic texts mainly show respect for the Sasanian government, and the Amora Samuel of Nehardea's remark – "dina demalchuta dina" (The law of the kingdom, the governing empire, must be upheld) reflects this attitude.

Shapur I (Shvor Malka, which is the Aramaic form of the name) was a friend to the Jews. His friendship with Shmuel gained many advantages for the Jewish community. Shapur II's mother was Jewish, and this gave the Jewish community a relative freedom of religion and many advantages. Shapur was also the friend of a Babylonian rabbi in the Talmud called Raba, and Raba's friendship with Shapur II enabled him to secure a relaxation of the oppressive laws enacted against the Jews in the Persian Empire. In addition, Raba sometimes referred to his top student Abaye with the term Shvur Malka meaning "Shapur [the] King" because of his bright and quick intellect.

Christians, Manicheans, Buddhists and Jews at first seemed at a disadvantage, especially under Sasanian high-priest Kartir; but the Jews, dwelling in more compact masses in cities like Isfahan, were not exposed to such general discrimination as broke out against the more isolated Christians.

Babylonian academies and the Babylonian Talmud
The Sasanian period witnessed the flourishing of Jewish culture in Babylonia, and the beginning of a long period in which Babylonian Jewry took the lead in Jewish culture worldwide. A landmark in this process was the emigration of Rav from the Galilee, where he had studied with Judah HaNasi (author of the Mishnah), to Babylonia in 219 CE. The Jewish community of Babylonia was already learned, but Rav focused and organised their study. Leaving an existing Babylonian academy at Nehardea for his colleague Samuel, Rav founded a new academy at Sura, where he and his family already owned property, and which was known as a Jewish city. Rav's move created an environment in which Babylon had two contemporary leading academies that competed with one another, yet were so far removed from one another that they could never interfere with each other's operations. Since Rav and Samuel were acknowledged peers in position and learning, their academies likewise were considered of equal rank and influence.

Their relationship can be compared to that between the Jerusalemite academies of the Houses of Hillel and Shammai, albeit Rav and Samuel agreed with each other far more often than did the houses of Hillel and Shammai. Thus, both Babylonian rabbinical schools opened a new era for diaspora Judaism, and the ensuing discussions in their classes furnished the earliest stratum and style of the scholarly material deposited in the Babylonian Talmud.

The key work of these semi-competing academies was the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud (the discussions from these two cities), completed by Rav Ashi and Ravina, two successive leaders of the Babylonian Jewish community, around the year 520, though rougher copies had already been circulated to the Jews of the Byzantine Empire. Editorial work by the Savoraim or Rabbanan Savoraei (post-Talmudic rabbis), continued on this text's grammar for the next 250 years; much of the text did not reach its "perfected" form until around 600–700. The Mishnah, which had been completed in the early 3rd century CE, and the Babylonian Gemara (the discussions at and around these academies) together form the Talmud Bavli (the "Babylonian Talmud"). Jewish tradition to this day overwhelmingly relies on the Babylonian Talmud, composed by Babylonian scholars during this period, rather than the Jerusalem Talmud composed in the same period in the Galilee.

The three centuries in the course of which the Babylonian Talmud was developed in the academies founded by Rav and Samuel were followed by five centuries during which it was intensely preserved, studied, expounded in the schools, and, through their influence, discipline and work, recognized by the whole diaspora. Sura, Nehardea, and Pumbedita were considered the seats of diaspora learning; and the heads of these authorities were referred to later on as Geonim and were considered the highest authorities on religious matters in the Jewish world. Their decisions were sought from all sides and were accepted wherever diaspora Jewish communal life existed. They even successfully competed against the learning coming from the Land of Israel itself.

According to the rabbis, God created these two academies in order to ensure the fulfillment of the Biblical promise that the word of God would never depart from Israel's mouth. The periods of Jewish history immediately following the close of the Talmud are designated according to the titles of the teachers at Sura and Pumbedita; thus we have the time of the Geonim and that of the Saboraim. The Saboraim were the scholars whose diligent hands completed the Talmud and the first great Talmudic commentaries in the first third of the 6th century.

The two academies among others, and the Jewish community they led, lasted until the middle of the 11th century. Pumbedita faded after its chief rabbi was murdered in 1038, and Sura faded soon after. Which ended the centuries-long great scholarly reputation given to Babylonian Jews, as the center of Jewish thought.

Islamic Arab period
The first legal expression of Islam toward the Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians after the conquests of the 630s were the poll-tax ("jizyah"), the tax upon real estate ("kharaj") was instituted.

Ali made Kufa, in Iraq, his capital, and it was there that Jews expelled from the Arabian Peninsula went (about 641). The capture by Ali of Firuz Shabur, where 90,000 Jews are said to have dwelt, is mentioned by the Jewish chroniclers. Mar Isaac, chief of the Academy of Sura, paid homage to the caliph, and received privileges from him.

The Umayyad caliph, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (717–720), issued orders to his governors: "Tear down no church, synagogue, or fire-temple; but permit no new ones to be built". Isaac Iskawi II (about 800) received from Harun al-Rashid (786–809) confirmation of the right to carry a seal of office. At the court of the Harun an embassy from the emperor Charlemagne included which a Jew, Isaac, took part. Like the Arabs, the Jews were zealous promoters of knowledge, and by translating Greek and Latin The caliph Al-Mu'tadhel (892–902) ranked the Jews as "state servants".

In the 7th century, the new Muslim rulers institute the kharaj land tax, which led to mass migration of Babylonian Jews from the countryside to cities like Baghdad. This in turn led to greater wealth and international influence, as well as a more cosmopolitan outlook from Jewish thinkers such as Saadiah Gaon, who now deeply engaged with Western philosophy for the first time. When the Abbasid Caliphate and the city of Baghdad declined in the 10th century, many Babylonian Jews migrated to the Mediterranean region, contributing to the spread of Babylonian Jewish customs throughout the Jewish world.

Mongol period
The Caliphate hastened to its end before the rising power of the Mongol Empire. As Bar Hebraeus remarks, these Mongol tribes knew no distinction between heathens, Jews, and Christians; and their Great Khan Kublai Khan showed himself just toward the Jews who served in his army, as reported by Marco Polo.

Iraq's Jewish community reached an apex in the 12th century, with 40,000 Jews, 28 synagogues, and ten yeshivot, or Rabbinic academies. Jews participated in commerce, artisanal labor and medicine. Under Mongol rule (1258–1335) Jewish physician Sa’ad Al-Dawla served as, or assistant director of the financial administration of Baghdad, as well as Chief Vizier of the Mongol Empire.

Hulagu (a Buddhist), the destroyer of the Caliphate (1258) and the conqueror of Palestine (1260), was tolerant toward Muslims, Jews and Christians; but there can be no doubt that in those days of terrible warfare the Jews must have suffered much with others. Under the Mongolian rulers, the priests of all religions were exempt from the poll-tax. Hulagu's second son, Aḥmed, embraced Islam, but his successor, Arghun (1284–1291), hated the Muslims and was friendly to Jews and Christians; his chief counselor was a Jew, Sa'ad al-Dawla, a physician of Baghdad.

It proved a false dawn. The power of Sa’ad al-Dawla was so vexatious to the Muslim population the churchman Bar Hebraeus wrote so "were the Muslims reduced to having a Jew in the place of honor." This was exacerbated by Sa’d al-Dawla, who ordered no Muslim be employed by the official bureaucracy. He was also known as a fearsome tax collection and rumours swirled he was planning to create a new religion of which Arghun was supposed to be the prophet. Sa’d al-Dawla was murdered two days before the death of his Arghun, then stricken by illness, by his enemies in court.

After the death of the great khan and the murder of his Jewish favorite, the Muslims fell upon the Jews, and Baghdad witnessed a regular battle between them. Gaykhatu also had a Jewish minister of finance, Reshid al-Dawla. The khan Ghazan also became a Muslim, and made the Jews second class citizens. The Egyptian sultan Naṣr, who also ruled over Iraq, reestablished the same law in 1330, and saddled it with new limitations. During this period attacks on Jews greatly increased. The situation grew dire for the Jewish community as Muslim chronicler Abbas al-’Azzawi recorded:

"These events which befell the Jews after they had attained a high standing in the state caused them to lower their voices. [Since then] we have not heard from them anything worthy of recording because they were prevented from participation in its government and politics. They were neglected and their voice was only heard [again] after a long time."

Baghdad, reduced in importance, ravaged by wars and invasions, was eclipsed as the commercial and political centre of the Arab world. The Jewish community, shuttered out of political life, were reduced too and the status of the Exilarch and the Rabbis of the city diminished. Great numbers of Jews began to depart, seeking tranquility elsewhere in the Middle East beyond a now troubled frontier.

Mongolian fury once again devastated the localities inhabited by Jews, when, in 1393, Timur captured Baghdad, Wasit, Hilla, Basra, and Tikrit, after obstinate resistance. Many Jews who had fled to Baghdad were slaughtered. Others escaped the city to Kurdistan and Syria. Many were not so fortunate, with one report mentioning 10,000 Jews killed in Mosul, Basra, and Husun Kifa.

The ruins of Baghdad after Timur's conquests was described in 1437 by the Muslim chronicler Al-Maqrizi: "Baghdad is in ruins. It has no mosque, no congregation of believers, no call to prayer and no markets. Most of the date palms have withered. Most of the irrigation canals are blocked. It cannot be called a city."

After the death of Timur, the region fell into the hands of marauding Turkmen tribesmen who were unable to establish a government of any kind. Ravaged by conquest, Iraq fell into lawlessness and became close to uninhabitable. Roads became dangerous and irrigation systems collapsed, seeing precious farmland in the delta region sink below water. Rapacious Bedouin filled the vacuum, rendering the caravan trade all but impossible. Denied authority of any kind and severed from its historic trading ties with the Middle East and the Far East, the ancient city of Baghdad had become a minor town.

The cumulative effect of the Mongol rampage and the social collapse that followed was that of the pre-existing Jewish community of Baghdad either died or fled. Jewish life entered a Dark Age. According to historian Zvi Yehuda, the fifteenth century sees no reports on Jews in Baghdad or in its surroundings, in Basra, Hilla, Kifil, ‘Ana, Kurdistan, even in Persia and the Persian Gulf. The organized Jewish community of Iraq appears to have disappeared in this period for more than four generations. This is behind the discontinuity between the present traditions of Iraqi Jewry and the Babylonian traditions of Talmudic or Geonic times. It remains the case that most Jewish Iraqis are of indigenous Middle Eastern ancestry rather than migrants from Spain, as in the case of parts of North Africa and the Levant.

Overview
During Ottoman rule (1534–1917) Jewish life prospered in Iraq. Jews were afforded religious liberties, enabling them to administer their own affairs in Jewish education. Tolerance towards Jews and Jewish customs, however, depended on local rulers. Ottoman ruler Sultan Murad IV appointed 10,000 Jewish officers in his government, as he valued the Baghdadi Jews. In contrast, Murad's governor Dauod Pasha was cruel and was responsible for the emigration of many Iraqi Jews.

After Dauod's death in 1851, Jewish involvement in commerce and politics increased, with religious influence also transforming. The Iraqi Jewish community introduced the Hakham Bashi, or Chief Rabbinate, in 1849, with Hakham Ezra Dangoor leading the community. The chief rabbi was also president of the community and was assisted by a lay council, a religious court, and a schools committee.

Early Ottoman period
After various changes of fortune, Mesopotamia and Iraq came into the hands of the Ottoman Turks, when Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534 took Tabriz and Baghdad from the Persians, leading to an improvement in the life of the Jews. The Persian reconquest in 1623 during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639) led to a much worse situation, so that the re-conquest of Iraq by the Turks in 1638 included an army with a large population of Jews. Some sources say they made up 10% of the army. The day of the reconquest was even given a holiday, "Yom Nes" (day of miracle).

This period of Mameluk rule in Iraq, under the aegis of the Ottoman Empire, united most of the future territory of Iraq into a single unit for the first time. As it ceased to be a warring frontier, opportunities for trade increased, especially due to the growing European presence on the ocean routes to India. Following this uptick in trade and security, Jewish communities began to be reestablished in Baghdad and Basra.

This was not the revival of a community so much as the establishment of a new one. According to the historian Zvi Yehuda, an analysis of the tens of thousands of Iraqi Jewish family trees stored at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center have indicate that families of Baghdadi Jews do not possess family trees tracing their lineage prior to the end of the 17th century. They were migrants from smaller Mesopotamian communities and from across the Middle East. Yehuda calls the Jewish community that reestablished itself in Baghdad, Basra and other cities the "new Babylonian Diaspora".

Eighteenth century
In 1743, there was a plague in which many of the Jews of Baghdad, including all the rabbis, died. The remaining Baghdad community asked the community of Aleppo to send them a new Chief Rabbi, leading to the appointment of Rabbi Sadka Bekhor Hussein. Culturally, it would prove a decisive moment when Chief Rabbi Shmuel Laniyado of Aleppo picked his protege for Baghdad. It is said he was accompanied by fifty Sephardic Jewish families from Aleppo. Many of them were Rabbis who were to sit on the Beth Din of Baghdad and Basra.

This led to an assimilation of Iraqi Judaism to the general Sephardic mode of observance. Jewish culture revived, with communal leaders as Solomon Ma’tuk being renown for his work as an astronomer, library and piyyutim. This brought the leading Jewish families of Baghdad, and with it, their Jewish practice into the network of Sephardic scribes and later printing presses established in Aleppo, Livorno and Salonica. Surviving records of the contents of the library of Solomon Ma’tuk shows a great number of books purchased from Sephardic scribes and some even originally from Spain.

Further driving this process was the high esteem in which Rabbi Sadka Bekhor Hussein was held as a halakhic authority. This saw him accepted as a halakhic authority by the Jews of Persia, Kurdistan and the fledgling Baghdadi trading outposts being established in India. Sephardic Rabbis and their rulings and practices were held in higher esteem. The historian Zvi Yehuda says the period saw the wheels turn in the relationship between the Babylonian Jewish communities and those of Iraq and Persia: "Before the 18th century, the Baghdadi Community needed the support of those communities; now the Baghdadi Community influenced them."

The 18th century saw the Jewish community of Aleppo exert a significant influence over the Jewish communities of Baghdad and Basra not only culturally but economically. Syrian Jewish families establishing themselves in Iraq were often formerly Spanish Sephardic families from Aleppo. These were typically high-class families such as the Belilios family who were frustrated with the dimming prospects of Aleppo and attracted to Baghdad and Basra's booming trade with India. This process saw the leading Jewish families of Baghdad, Basra and Aleppo grow to be heavily interlinked through marriages, religious life, partnership and trade in the 18th century.

As this process of cultural assimilation saw the Jews of Baghdad come to more closely resemble the Jews of Aleppo, economic decline in Syria, Kurdistan and Persia worsened. The 18th century saw a growing number of Jews leave from there to Baghdad, Basra or the Baghdadi-led outposts being established in the Far East. The still small and reemerging Jewish community of Baghdad became a migration destination with Jewish families settling in Baghdad from Istanbul, Aleppo, Damascus, Ana and Basra. A key driver of this was decline of the old caravan route running between these cities. There was also migration from the communities of Palestine, the villages of Kurdistan, and it is said that a handful of Jews settled in Baghdad from Germany.

Nineteenth century
By the early 19th century, Baghdad had been reestablished as a leading Jewish center in the Middle East. There were over 6,000 Jews in city, two synagogues and strong community institutions. This was not a golden age, however. Over time, the centralized Ottoman control over the region deteriorated and the situation of the Jews worsened, but the population continued to grow very rapidly. An example of this deterioration is the persecution of Dawud Pasha, which began in 1814 and lasted until 1831. Many leaders of the Jewish community, such as Solomon Ma’tuk, were forced to flee. One of the foremost leaders of the community, David Sassoon, was forced to flee first to Busher and then to India.

By the early 19th century, trade between Baghdad and India was said to be entirely in the hands of the Jewish community. Though Jewish traders from the Middle East had been crossing the Indian Ocean since antiquity, the deteriorating situation in the Ottoman Empire and the rise of commercial opportunities in British India saw many Jews from Iraq establish themselves permanently in India, at first in Surat, then especially in Calcutta and Bombay.

This was the beginning of primarily Iraqi Jewish diaspora in Asia known as the Baghdadi Jews, to which David Sassoon and many of the other leading Jewish families in Baghdad fled the persecution of Dawud Pasha. These Judeo-Arabic speaking communities, following mostly Iraqi Jewish customs, would be formed along the so-called opium route between India and China, including in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. These were all led by leading Iraqi Jewish families such as the Sassoons, Ezras, Eliases, Gubbays and Judahs. These families were active sponsors of religious life and charity back in Iraq.

Israel Joseph Benjamin, the Ashkenazi Jewish traveller and scholar from Moldova, who conducted extensive journeys to visit even the most furthest flung Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish communities of Asia between 1845 and 1859, wrote of Baghdad that "in no other place in the east have I found my Israelitish brothers in such perfectly happy circumstances." One distinguishing feature of the communities of Baghdad and Basra remarked upon by Ashkenazi travelers was the extreme young age of marriage: between eight and twelve years old for girls to men usually eighteen to twenty. Another was the traditional face veils and long flowing garments wore by Jewish women who were not expected to show their face in public like their Muslim neighbors.

During the 19th century, the influence of the Jewish families of Aleppo of the previous century faded as Baghdad emerged as a strong Jewish and economic center in its own right. The Jewish population has grown so rapidly that by 1884, there were 30,000 Jews in Baghdad and by 1900, 50,000, comprising over a quarter of the city's total population. Large-scale Jewish immigration from Kurdistan to Baghdad continued throughout this period. By the mid-19th century, the religious infrastructure of Baghdad grew to include a large yeshiva which trained up to sixty rabbis at time. Religious scholarship flourished in Baghdad, which produced great rabbis, such as Joseph Hayyim ben Eliahu Mazal-Tov, known as the Ben Ish Chai (1834–1909) or Rabbi Abdallah Somekh (1813–1889).

The state of Iraq
Early Labor Zionism mostly concentrated on the Jews of Europe, skipping Iraqi Jews because of their lack of interest in agriculture. The result was that "Until World War II, Zionism made little headway because few Iraqi Jews were interested in the socialist ideal of manual labor in Palestine."

During the British Mandate, beginning in 1920, and in the early days after independence in 1932, well-educated Jews played an important role in civic life. Iraq's first minister of finance, Sir Sassoon Eskell, was a Jew, and Jews were important in developing the judicial and postal systems. Records from the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce show that 10 out of its 19 members in 1947 were Jews and the first musical band formed for Baghdad's nascent radio in the 1930s consisted mainly of Jews. Jews were represented in the Iraqi parliament, and many Jews held significant positions in the bureaucracy. Between 1924 and 1928, some Jews fled persecution in Russia, arriving in Iraq as refugees.

Organized Zionist activity began in Iraq in the 1920s. The Jewish population was generally sympathetic toward the movement, although not at that time as a solution for Iraqi Jews. The Zionist organization in Baghdad was initially granted a permit by the British, in March 1921, but in the following year, under the government of King Faisal I, was unable to renew it. Nevertheless, its activities were tolerated until 1929. In that year, after conflict and bloodshed in Palestine during anti-Zionist demonstrations, Zionist activities were banned and teachers from Palestine, who had taught Hebrew and Jewish history, were forced to leave.

In the 1930s, the situation of the Jews in Iraq deteriorated. Previously, the growing Iraqi Arab nationalist sentiment included Iraqi Jews as fellow Arabs, but these views changed with the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian Mandate and the introduction of Nazi propaganda. Despite protestations of their loyalty to Iraq, Iraqi Jews were increasingly subject to discrimination and anti-Jewish actions. In September 1934, following the appointment of Arshad al-Umari as the new minister of economics and communications, tens of Jews were dismissed from their posts in that ministry; and, subsequently, there were unofficial quotas of Jews that could be appointed in the civil service or admitted to secondary schools and colleges. Zionist activity had continued covertly even after 1929, but in 1935 the last two Palestinian Jewish teachers were deported, and the president of the Zionist organization was put on trial and ultimately required to leave the country.

Following the collapse of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani's pro-Axis coup d'état in 1941, the Farhud ("violent dispossession") pogrom broke out in Baghdad on June 1, in which approximately 200 Iraqi Jews were murdered (some sources put the number higher ), and up to 2,000 injured – damages to Jewish-owned property were estimated at $3 million (US$ 0 million in 2024). There were also instances of looting of Jewish properties in many other cities at around the same time, with the pogrom lasting for two days until June 2. Afterwards, Jewish emissaries from Palestine were sent to teach Iraqi Jews self-defense, which they were eager to learn. The newly restored pro-Allied monarchist regime quickly implemented measures to prevent the outbreak of similar anti-Jewish violence and established a committee of enquiry on 7 June "to examine the facts and find who was culpable."

Persecution by Iraqi authorities
Before the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine vote, Iraq's prime minister Nuri al-Said told British diplomats that if the United Nations solution was not "satisfactory", "severe measures should [would?] be taken against all Jews in Arab countries". In a speech at the General Assembly Hall at Flushing Meadow, New York, on Friday, 28 November 1947, Iraq's Foreign Minister, Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali, included the following statement: "Partition imposed against the will of the majority of the people will jeopardize peace and harmony in the Middle East. Not only the uprising of the Arabs of Palestine is to be expected, but the masses in the Arab world cannot be restrained. The Arab-Jewish relationship in the Arab world will greatly deteriorate. There are more Jews in the Arab world outside of Palestine than there are in Palestine. In Iraq alone, we have about one hundred and fifty thousand Jews who share with Muslims and Christians all the advantages of political and economic rights. Harmony prevails among Muslims, Christians and Jews. But any injustice imposed upon the Arabs of Palestine will disturb the harmony among Jews and non-Jews in Iraq; it will breed inter-religious prejudice and hatred."

In the months leading up to the November 1947 Partition vote, violence against Iraqi Jews increased. In May 1947, a Jewish man in Baghdad was lynched by an angry mob after being accused of giving poisoned candy to Arab children. Rioters ransacked homes in the Jewish Quarter of Fallujah, and the Jewish population there fled to Baghdad. Large Jewish "donations" for the Palestinian Arab cause were regularly extorted, with the names of "donors" read out on the radio to encourage more. In spite of this, Iraqi Jews still mostly continued to view themselves as loyal Iraqis and believed that the hardship would pass. The Jewish Agency's emissary to Iraq reported that "No attention is paid [by the Jews] to the frightful manifestations of hostility around them, which place all Jews on the verge of a volcano about to erupt."

In 1948, the year of Israel's independence, there were about 150,000 Jews in Iraq. Persecution of Jews greatly increased that year: "With very few exceptions, only Jews wore watches. On spotting one that looked expensive, a policeman had approached the owner as if to ask the hour. Once assured the man was Jewish, he relieved him of the timepiece and took him into custody. The watch, he told the judge, contained tiny wireless; he'd caught the Jew, he claimed, sending military secrets to the Zionists in Palestine. Without examining the "evidence" or asking any questions, the judge pronounced his sentence. The "traitor" went to prison, the watch to the policeman as a reward."
 * In July 1948, the government passed a law making Zionism a capital offense, with a minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment. Any Jew could be convicted of Zionism-based only on the sworn testimony of two Muslim witnesses, with virtually no avenue of appeal available.
 * On August 28, 1948, Jews were forbidden to engage in banking or foreign currency transactions.
 * In September 1948, Jews were dismissed from the railways, the post office, the telegraph department, and the Finance Ministry on the ground that they were suspected of "sabotage and treason".
 * On October 8, 1948, the issuance of export and import licenses to Jewish merchants was forbidden.
 * On October 19, 1948, the discharge of all Jewish officials and workers from all governmental departments was ordered.
 * In October, the Egyptian paper El-Ahram estimated that as a result of arrests, trials, and sequestration of property, the Iraqi treasury collected some 20 million dinars or the equivalent of 80 million U.S. dollars.
 * On December 2, 1948, the Iraq government suggested to oil companies operating in Iraq that no Jewish employees be accepted.

Following the Israeli Declaration of Independence and Iraq's subsequent participation in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Iraq was placed under martial law. Courts martial were used to intimidate wealthy Jews, Jews were again dismissed from civil service, quotas were placed on university positions, and Jewish businesses were boycotted. In sweeps throughout urban areas, the Iraqi authorities searched thousands of Jewish homes for secret caches of money they were presumed to be sending to Israel. Walls were frequently demolished in these searches. Hundreds of Jews were arrested on suspicion of Zionist activity, tortured into confessing, and subjected to heavy fines and lengthy prison sentences. In one case, a Jewish man was sentenced to five years' hard labor for possessing a Biblical Hebrew inscription which was presumed to be a coded Zionist message.

The greatest shock to the Jewish community came with the arrest and execution of businessman Shafiq Ades, a Jewish automobile importer who was the single wealthiest Jew in the country. Ades, who had displayed no interest in Zionism, was arrested on charges of sending military equipment to Israel and convicted by a military tribunal. He was fined $20 million and sentenced to death. His entire estate was liquidated and he was publicly hanged in Basra in September 1948. The Jewish community's general sentiment was that if an assimilated and non-Zionist Jew as powerful and well-connected as Ades could be eliminated, other Jews would not be protected any longer. Additionally, like most Arab League states, Iraq forbade any legal emigration of its Jews on the grounds that they might go to Israel and could strengthen that state. At the same time, increasing government oppression of the Jews fueled by anti-Israeli sentiment together with public expressions of antisemitism created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.

The Iraqi Jewish community gradually became impoverished because of persecution. Jewish businesses were forced to close in the face of boycotts and arrests of Jewish businessmen. After Jews were prohibited from working in the civil service, skilled and formerly well-paid Jewish civil service employees were driven into poverty and forced to become street peddlers to avoid being arrested for vagrancy. Jewish home values dropped by 80%.

On 19 February 1949, Nuri al-Said acknowledged the bad treatment that the Jews had been victims of in Iraq during the recent months. He warned that unless Israel behaved itself, events might take place concerning the Iraqi Jews.

Operation Ezra and Nehemiah
With Iraqi Jews enduring oppression and being driven into destitution, the Iraqi Zionist underground began smuggling Jews out of Iraq to Israel starting in November 1948. Jews were smuggled into Iran and from there proceeded to Israel. By 1949, the Iraqi Zionist underground had become well-established (despite many arrests), and they were smuggling Iraqi Jews out of the country illegally at a rate of 1,000 a month. The fleeing Jews took money and some possessions with them, and this capital flight harmed the Iraqi economy.

Hoping to stem the flow of assets from the country, in March 1950 Iraq passed a law of one-year duration allowing Jews to emigrate on condition of relinquishing their Iraqi citizenship. They were motivated, according to Ian Black, by "economic considerations, chief of which was that almost all the property of departing Jews reverted to the state treasury" and also that "Jews were seen as a restive and potentially troublesome minority that the country was best rid of." Iraqi politicians candidly admitted that they wanted to expel their Jewish population for reasons of their own.

Israel was initially reluctant to absorb so many immigrants, but mounted an airlift in March 1951 called "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah" to bring as many of the Iraqi Jews as possible to Israel, and sent agents to Iraq to urge the Jews to register for immigration as soon as possible. Iraqi Jews mainly left Iraq for Cyprus and Iran, from where they were airlifted to Israel, though for a time direct flights between Israel and Baghdad were allowed.

From the start of the emigration law in March 1950 until the end of the year, 60,000 Jews registered to leave Iraq. In addition to continuing arrests and the dismissal of Jews from their jobs, this exodus was encouraged by a series of bombings starting in April 1950 that resulted in a number of injuries and a few deaths. Two months before the expiration of the law, by which time about 85,000 Jews had registered, another bomb at the Masuda Shemtov synagogue killed 3 or 5 Jews and injured many others. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Said was determined to drive the Jews out of his country as quickly as possible,  and on August 21, 1950, he threatened to revoke the license of the company transporting the Jewish exodus if it did not fulfill its daily quota of 500 Jews.

The available planes initially did not match the demand, and as a result many Jews had to wait for extended periods of time in Iraq while awaiting transport to Israel. These Jews, having already been denaturalized and renounced all property, were now stateless and destitute, and many were now homeless and sleeping on the streets. The Iraqi government announced that if the Jews were not removed more swiftly, they would be placed in concentration camps. As a result, more airlines were chartered to speed up the exodus.

On September 18, 1950, Nuri al-Said summoned a representative of the Jewish community and claimed Israel was behind the emigration delay, threatening to "take them to the borders" and forcibly expel the Jews. The law expired in March 1951 but was later extended after the Iraqi government froze the assets of departing Jews, including those who had already left. During the next few months, all but a few thousand of the remaining Jews registered for emigration, spurred on by a sequence of further bombings that caused few casualties but had great psychological impact.

Israel's fragile infrastructure, which already had to accommodate a mass influx of Jewish immigration from war-ravaged Europe and other Arab and Muslim countries, was heavily strained, and the Israeli government was not certain that it had enough permanent housing units and tents to accommodate the Iraqi Jews. When Israel attempted to negotiate a more gradual influx of Iraqi Jews, Said realized that the Jews could be turned into a demographic weapon against Israel. He hoped that a rapid influx of totally penniless Jews would collapse Israel's infrastructure.

In March 1951, he engineered a law which would permanently freeze all assets of denaturalized Jews. Officially, the assets were merely frozen and not confiscated; under international law assets can theoretically remain frozen for perpetuity, making it impossible for them to ever be reclaimed. The law was prepared in secret, as it was being ratified, Baghdad's telephone network suspended operations to prevent Jews from learning of it and attempt to transfer or withdraw their money. Iraq's Banks were closed for three days to ensure that Jews could not access their funds.

With Iraq's Jews effectively stripped of their assets permanently, Said demanded Israel accept 10,000 Iraqi Jewish refugees per month. He threatened to prohibit Jewish emigration from May 31, 1951, and to set up concentration camps for stateless Jews still in Iraq. Israel attempted to negotiate a compromise to enable the Iraqi Jews to leave gradually in a way that did not put as much pressure on Israel's absorptive capacity, but Said was adamant that the Jews had to leave as fast as possible. As a result, Israel increased the flights.

In Baghdad, the daily spectacle of Jews carrying nothing but their clothes and a bag of their remaining possessions being loaded onto trucks for transport to the airport caused public jubilation. Jews were mocked every step of the way during their departure and crowds stoned the trucks taking Jews to the airport. Jews were allowed to bring out a maximum of five pounds weight in property, which was to consist of personal effects only, as well as a small amount of cash. At the airport, Iraqi officials body searched every emigrant for cash or jewelry, and they also beat and spat on the departing Jews.

Overall, between 1948 and 1951, 121,633 Iraqi Jews were airlifted, bused, or smuggled out of the country, including 119,788 between January 1950 and December 1951. About 15,000 Jews remained in Iraq. In 1952, emigration to Israel was again banned, and the Iraqi government publicly hanged two Jews who had been falsely charged with throwing a bomb at the Baghdad office of the U.S. Information Agency.

According to Palestinian politician Aref al-Aref, Said had attempted to justify allowing the exodus by explaining to him that: "The Jews have always been a source of evil and harm to Iraq. They are spies. They have sold their property in Iraq, they have no land among us that they can cultivate. How therefore can they live? What will they do if they stay in Iraq? No, no my friend, it is better for us to be rid of them as long as we are able to do so."

Iraqi Jews left behind them extensive property, often located in the heart of Iraq's major cities. A relatively high number found themselves in refugee camps in Israel known as Ma'abarot before being given permanent housing.

Behind the synagogue bombings
The true identity and objective of the masterminds behind the bombings has been the subject of controversy. A secret Israeli inquiry in 1960 found no evidence that they were ordered by Israel or any motive that would have explained the attack, though it did find out that most of the witnesses believed that Jews had been responsible for the bombings. The issue remains unresolved: Iraqi activists still regularly charge that Israel used violence to engineer the exodus, while Israeli officials of the time vehemently deny it. Historian Moshe Gat reports that "the belief that the bombs had been thrown by Zionist agents was shared by those Iraqi Jews who had just reached Israel". Sociologist Phillip Mendes backs Gat's claims, and further attributes the allegations to have been influenced and distorted by feelings of discrimination.

The affair has also been the subject of a libel lawsuit by Mordechai Ben Porat, which was settled in an out-of-court compromise with an apology of the journalist who described the charges as true.

Iraqi authorities eventually charged three members of the Zionist underground with perpetrating some of the explosions. Two of those charged, Shalom Salah Shalom and Yosef Ibrahim Basri, were subsequently found guilty and executed, whilst the third was sentenced to a lengthy jail term. Salah Shalom claimed in his trial that he was tortured into confessing, and Yosef Basri maintained his innocence throughout.

Gat reports that much of the previous literature "reflects the universal conviction that the bombings had a tremendous impact on the large-scale exodus of the Jews... To be more precise it is suggested that the Zionist emissaries committed these brutal acts in order to uproot the prosperous Iraqi Jewish community and bring it to Israel". However, Gat argues that both claims are contrary to the evidence. As summarized by Mendes: "Historian Moshe Gat argues that there was little direct connection between the bombings and exodus. He demonstrates that the frantic and massive Jewish registration for denaturalization and departure was driven by knowledge that the denaturalisation law was due to expire in March 1951. He also notes the influence of further pressures including the property-freezing law, and continued anti-Jewish disturbances which raised the fear of large-scale pogroms. In addition, it is highly unlikely the Israelis would have taken such measures to accelerate the Jewish evacuation given that they were already struggling to cope with the existing level of Jewish immigration. Gat also raises serious doubts about the guilt of the alleged Jewish bombthrowers. Firstly, a Christian officer in the Iraqi army known for his anti-Jewish views, was arrested, but apparently not charged, with the offences. A number of explosive devices similar to those used in the attack on the Jewish synagogue were found in his home. In addition, there was a long history of anti-Jewish bomb-throwing incidents in Iraq. Secondly, the prosecution was not able to produce even one eyewitness who had seen the bombs thrown. Thirdly, the Jewish defendant Shalom Salah indicated in court that he had been severely tortured in order to procure a confession. It therefore remains an open question as to who was responsible for the bombings, although Gat argues that the most likely perpetrators were members of the anti-Jewish Istiqlal Party. Certainly memories and interpretations of the events have further been influenced and distorted by the unfortunate discrimination which many Iraqi Jews experienced on their arrival in Israel."

Many years later, the widow of the Zionist emissary Yehuda Tager stated that while the main bombings were carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood, later smaller attacks were staged by Yosef Beit-Halahmi, on his own initiative, in an attempt to make it seem as if the activists on trial were not the perpetrators.

In Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew, Avi Shlaim unveils "undeniable proof of Zionist involvement in the terrorist attacks" which prompted a mass exodus of Jews from Iraq between 1950 and 1951. The historian believed most of the bombings against Jews in Iraq were the work of Mossad. He believed these actions were intended to quicken the transfer of 110,000 Jews in Iraq to the then-newly created state of Israel.

Later
Most of the 15,000 Jews remaining after Operation Ezra and Nehemiah stayed through the Abdul Karim Qassim era when conditions improved and began to return to normal, but anti-Semitism increased during the rule of the Arif brothers (Abdul Salam Arif and Abdul Rahman Arif).

With the rise of the Ba'ath Party to power in 1963, restrictions were placed on the remaining Iraqi Jews. Sale of property was banned, and Jews had to carry yellow identity cards.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, Jewish property was expropriated, bank accounts were frozen, Jews were dismissed from public posts, their businesses were closed, trading permits owned by Jews were cancelled, they were not allowed to use telephones, they were placed under house arrest for extended periods of time, and were under constant surveillance and restricted to the cities. In late 1968, scores of Jews were jailed on charges of spying for Israel, culminating in the 1969 public hanging of 14 men, 9 of them Jews, who were accused of spying for Israel. Other suspected spies for Israel died under torture.

After Baghdad Radio invited Iraqi citizens to "come and enjoy the feast", half a million people paraded and danced past the scaffolds where the men were hanged, which resulted in international criticism. An Iraqi Jew who later left wrote that the stress of persecution caused ulcers, heart attacks, and breakdowns to become increasingly prevalent in the Jewish community. A further 18 Jews were hanged in secret from 1970 to 1972, and in April 1973 five members of a single Jewish family were killed on the orders of the head of the Iraqi secret police in retaliation for an Israeli assassination of a Palestinian leader.

As a result, Jews escaped the country by traveling to Iraqi Kurdistan and then slipping into Iran with the help of Kurdish smugglers. From there many emigrated to Israel while some also moved to other countries such as the UK and Australia. In the early 1970s, bowing to international pressure and having concluded that its emigration ban was useless, the Iraqi government allowed Jewish emigration and most of the remaining Jews left. The majority of those who stayed behind were elderly, and the community was subsequently pressured by the government to turn over $200 million worth of Jewish community property without compensation. In 1974, about 400 Jews still lived in Iraq.

The last Jewish wedding in Iraq took place in 1978 and the last brit milah took place in 1984. In 1985, one synagogue in Iraq continued to function, the Meir Taweig Synagogue, located in the Al-Bataween neighborhood, which had once been Baghdad's main Jewish neighborhood. Jews were allowed to freely practice their religion but were prohibited from holding jobs in state enterprises or joining the army.

Immediately prior to the Gulf War, the U.S. State Department noted that there was no recent evidence of overt persecution of Jews, but travel, particularly to Israel, was restricted, as was contact with Jewish groups abroad. In 1997, the Jerusalem Post reported that in the previous five years, some 75 Jews had fled Iraq, of whom about 20 moved to Israel and the rest mostly went to the United Kingdom and Netherlands. The community's only ordained rabbi died in 1996 and the last shochet, or kosher slaughterer, left in 2002. In 2003, one community member, Emad Levy, became the community's leader, functioning as its sole rabbi, kosher slaughterer, and advisor on all Judaism-related issues to those in the community.

The last active synagogue closed in 2003, a few weeks before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, the Jewish Agency launched an effort to track down all of the remaining Iraqi Jews to present them with an opportunity to emigrate to Israel, and found a total of 34 Jews in Baghdad, half of whom were over the age of 70. While the community was largely elderly and poor, some were middle class including two doctors. Six chose to emigrate, among them Ezra Levy, the father of Emad Levy.

After the defeat of the Ba'ath regime, the process of establishing a new democratic government began. Among the subjects for debate over the Iraqi constitution was whether Jews should be considered a minority group, or left out of the constitution altogether.

In October 2006, Rabbi Emad Levy announced that he was leaving for Israel and compared his life to "living in a prison". He reported that most Iraqi Jews stay in their homes "out of fear of kidnapping or execution" due to sectarian violence. However, Levy remained in Iraq for four more years. He emigrated to Israel in 2010 after receiving death threats, where he subsequently married and started a family, becoming the last Iraqi Jew to emigrate. Levy remained in touch with the small Jewish community left in the country. In a 2018 interview, he said that there were five Jews still in Iraq, with one woman serving as the community director.

There are numerous estimates for the number of Jews living in Baghdad. They include thirty-four (2003) (of whom six went to Israel), eight (2007), seven (2008), ten (2008), five (2013), eight (2016), five (2018), or ten (2018). In 2020–2021, the Jewish population in Iraq was reported to be four. Among the American forces stationed in Iraq, there were only three Jewish chaplains.

In 2011, a leaked US embassy cable named eight Jews left in Baghdad; one of whom, Emhad Levy, immigrated to Israel. Andrew White, who was Vicar of St George's Church, Baghdad, urged the remaining Jews to immigrate. White also pleaded for help in saving remaining Torah scrolls in Iraq.

Over Jewish protests, the Iraqi Jewish Archive is to be given by the U.S. government to the Iraqi government, instead of being returned to the Iraqi Jewish community; however, the archive can be seen online. In Al-Qosh, the Jewish prophet Nahum's tomb was being restored in 2020 thanks to a $1-million grant from the U.S., local authorities, and private donations. In 2020, the synagogue beside Ezekiel's Tomb was converted into a mosque.

On March 15, 2021, one of the last remaining five Jews in Iraq, Dr. Dhafer Fouad Eliyahu, died.

In November 2021, Israeli police recovered a Baghdad Torah scroll from an Arab village.

In December 2021, Jews in Iraq received Hanukkah kits.

On May 27, 2022, Iraq passed a law making contact with Israel punishable by death.

In 2021 the Jewish population in Iraq number was fewer than five. In 2022 the number of living Jews in Iraq had shrunk to three.

Iraqi Jews

 * Many Tannaim and Amoraim, including:
 * Abba Arika, "Rabh", amora
 * Shmuel Yarchina'ah, "Mar Samuel", or Samuel of Nehardea, amora
 * Rav Huna
 * Rav Chisda
 * Abaye, amora
 * Rav Papa, amora
 * Rav Ashi (Abana), rav, amora
 * Anan ben David, founder of Qara'ism
 * Alan Yentob, television executive, broadcaster
 * Avi Shlaim, Oxford Professor
 * Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, politician
 * Dodai ben Nahman, scholar
 * Shlomo Hillel, diplomat and politician
 * Ya'qub Bilbul, poet
 * Sir Sassoon Eskell, statesman and financier
 * Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, Lord Mayor of London, businessman
 * Naeim Giladi, writer
 * Sir Naim Dangoor, entrepreneur and philanthropist
 * N.J. Dawood, translator of Koran
 * Hakham Yosef Chayyim of Baghdad, "Ben Ish Chai"
 * Yitzchak Kadouri, rabbi and kabbalist
 * Yitzhak Yamin, painter and sculptor
 * Hila Klein, member of American-Israeli husband and wife duo h3h3Productions, best known for their YouTube channel of the same name. Family is of mixed Libyan and Iraqi Jewish heritage
 * Elie Kedourie, historian
 * Jessica Meir, astronaut, physiologist
 * Sami Michael*, writer
 * Shafiq Ades, wealthy businessman
 * Samir Naqqash, novelist
 * Selim Zilkha, entrepreneur
 * Maurice & Charles Saatchi, advertising executives
 * Yona Sabar, scholar, linguist and researcher
 * David Sassoon, merchant, and Sassoon family
 * Yaakov Chaim Sofer, rabbi
 * Ovadia Yosef, rabbi

Films

 * 2002 – Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs – The Iraqi Connection. Directed by Samir.
 * 2005 – The Forgotten Refugees
 * 2007 – Baghdad Twist . Directed by Joe Balass.
 * 2013 – Farewell Baghdad. Directed by Nissim Dayan.
 * 2014 – Shadow in Baghdad. Directed by Duki Dror.

title: History of the Jews in Iraq