From the Arab Expansion until the 1960s, Jews were a significant part of the population of Arab countries. Before 1948, an estimated 900,000 Jews lived in what are now Arab states. Here is a list of some prominent Jews from the Arab World, arranged by country of birth.
Al-Andalus
Mūsā ibn Maymūn, medieval philosopher and Torah scholar
Abu Harun Musa bin Ya'acub ibn Ezra-philosopher and linguist
Jacques Attali, economist, writer
Cheb i Sabbah, famous club DJ
Lili Boniche, musician
Patrick Bruel, singer, actor
Alain Chabat, actor
Hélène Cixous, feminist writer
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, physicist, Nobel prize (1997)
Jacques Derrida, deconstructionist philosopher
Alphonse Halimi, boxer: World Bantamweight Champion[1]
Roger Hanin, film actor & director
Enrico Macias (Gaston Ghrenassia), French singer
Line Monty (Eliane Sarfati), Algerian singer
Ebrahim Daoud Nonoo, former member of parliament
Houda Ezra Nonoo, former member of parliament and former Ambassador of Bahrain to the USA
Nancy Khedouri, current member of parliament
André Aciman,writer and academic
Guy Béart, French singer
Eli Cohen, celebrated Israeli spy
Sir Ronald Cohen, Egyptian-born businessman
Jacques Hassoun, Psychoanalyst, writer
Aura Herzog, widow of Chaim Herzog, the sixth President of the State of Israel
Eric Hobsbawm, historian (Jewish-Polish & -German parents living in Cairo)
Edmond Jabès, poet
Paula Jacques, writer, journalist, radio show producer
Jacqueline Kahanoff, writer
Ranan Lurie, political cartoonist
Moshe Marzouk, doctor
Roland Moreno, engineer, inventor of the Smart Card
Layla Murad, singer
Haim Saban, TV producer
Saadia ben Yosef, rabbi
Sylvain Sylvain (Sylvain Mizrahi), guitarist for New York Dolls
Bat Ye'or, historian
Avraham Yosef, rabbi
Yaakov Yosef, rabbi
Ahmed Zayat, entrepreneur and owner of Zayat Stables LLC
Many Tannas 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
Ari Ben-Menashe
Dodai ben Nahman
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, politician
Ya'qub Bilbul, poet
Sir Sassoon Eskell, Iraqi statesman and financier
Naeim Giladi, writer
N.J. Dawood, translator of Koran
Hakham Yosef Chayyim of Baghdad, "Ben Ish Chai"
Yitzchak Kadouri, rabbi and kabbalist
Elie Kedourie, historian
Sami Michael*, Israeli writer
Shafiq Ades, wealthy businessman
Samir Naqqash, novelist
Maurice & Charles Saatchi, advertising executives
David Sassoon, Anglo-Indian merchant, and Sassoon family
Avi Shlaim, Oxford Professor born in Iraq
Yaakov Chaim Sofer, rabbi
Dahlia Wasfi, activist
Ovadia Yosef, rabbi
Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaity, singers
George Borba, footballer
David Nahmad, backgammon champion and art dealer
Yfrah Neaman, violinist
Gad Saad, evolutionary behavioral scientist
Isaac Sasson, president of the community 'Haïm Cohen Halala' in Beirut
Edmond Safra, billionaire banker
Jacob Safra, founder of Jacob E. Safra Bank
Joseph Safra, chairman of all Safra companies
Michel Abitbol, academic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Amram Aburbeh, Sephardi Dayan, Scholar Chief Rabbi of Petah Tikva born in Tetouan. Best known of his work Netivei-Am
Isaac Alfasi, Talmudist and posek. Best known for his work of halakha
Shlomo Amar, Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel
Robert Assaraf, historian and writer
André Azoulay, advisor to Kings Hassan II and Mohammed VI
Shlomo Ben-Ami Israeli diplomat, politician and author born in Tangier
Ralph Benmergui, Canadian media personality, born in Tangier
Raphael Berdugo, dayan, scholar, and rabbi
Salomon Berdugo, poet and rabbi from Meknes
Aryeh Deri, Israeli politician, a former leader of Shas Party
Edmond Amran El Maleh, writer
André Elbaz, painter and filmmaker from El Jadida
Gad Elmaleh, humorist, actor
Serge Haroche, Nobel-winning physicist
David Hassine, liturgic poet and rabbi
Dunash ben Labrat, grammarian, poet
David Levy, Israeli politician
Nahum Ma'arabi, Hebrew poet and translator of the 13th century
Chalom Messas, Grand Rabbi of Morocco until 2003
David Messas, Grand Rabbi of Paris since 1995
Amir Peretz, Israeli politician, leader of the Labour Party
David Rebibo, congregational rabbi and Jewish day school dean in Phoenix, Arizona
Baba Sali, rabbi
Abraham Serfaty, political activist
Meir Sheetrit, Israeli politician of Kadima
Avi Toledano, singer who competed at the Eurovision Song Contest
Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli dissident (converted to Christianity)
Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya (Samuel ibn 'Adiya), poet, warrior
David Reubeni, false messiah
Nessim Gaon, financier
Ezra Attiya, rabbi and rosh yeshiva
Émile Benveniste, linguist
Max Azria, fashion designer, founder of BCBG
Roger Bismuth, Tunisian senator
Alain Boublil, lyricist
Claude Challe, club impresario and DJ
Pierre Darmon, tennis player
Pierre Lellouche, French politician
Albert Memmi, novelist & sociologist
Victor Perez, boxing world champion
Silvan Shalom, Israeli politician and former Foreign Minister of Israel
Nethanel ben Isaiah
Jacob ben Nathanael
Ofra Haza, famous Israeli singer
Yosef Qafih rabbi and leader of Baladi Yemenite Jewish community
Abdullah ibn Saba, converted to Islam (born Jewish)
Rabiah ibn Mudhar & Dhu Nuwas, kings of Himyarite
Wahb bin Munabbih (?–732), converted to Islam (born Persian Jew)
Shalom Shabazi, poet
List of Jews from the Arab world Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
