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Early Jewish Settlement
Jews of the 1800s-1980s
Honduras Today
Relations with Israel
Early Jewish Settlement
In 1502, Christopher Columbus landed in Trujillo. He called the territory Honduras (“depths”) after the deep water off the Caribbean coast.
Conversos, or New Christians who converted to Christianity while secretly practicing Judaism, were believed to be among the Spaniards who secured permits allowing them to circumvent prohibitions against sailing to the New World after the Jewish expulsion from Spain. Many of these conversos disembarked along the Gulf of Mexico and the Honduran coast.
It is possible that these were the first “Jews” to arrive in Honduras, but some historians dispute this.
Jews of the 1800s-1980s
At the end of the 1800s, Honduras experienced an influx of Jews. The majority emigrated from the Central European regions of Russia, Poland, Germany, Romania, and Hungary, while a few were of Sephardic origin and came from Greece, Turkey, and North Africa.
Another surge in immigration occurred in the 1920s when the Honduran government announced its willingness to welcome numerous Jewish educators and professionals from Europe. At this time, the two distinctive Jewish communities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, which still exist today, were established, and Judaism began to leave an imprint on Honduran history and culture.
Eight families established a small Jewish settlement in the northeastern port city of La Ceiba. Although the community could not take hold and expand, those who came prospered by working with American companies involved in cultivating and selling bananas. Today, only one Jewish family remains in La Ceiba.
During the years leading up to the Second World War and in the early stages of the war, Honduran consuls were prohibited from giving visas to European Jews. Nevertheless, roughly 20 Jewish doctors and farmers, predominantly German Jews, managed to obtain special permits to enter and work in Honduras.
The Honduran government, then headed by President Carias, allowed the entry of these Jews only after receiving requests from local influential Jews. Salvador Schacher of Tegucigalpa and Jose Brandel and Boris Goldstein of San Pedro Sula convinced the President to order visas for those seeking refuge from the atrocities. Most of those granted admittance were youths who had escaped the war via Holland or Switzerland and already had relatives living in Honduras.
By 1947, fewer than 140 Jews resided in the whole nation. Throughout the 1950s, an estimated 30 Jewish families lived in the city of Tegucigalpa. That community was led by Salomon Schacher, whose wife, Jenny, started a chapter of the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO), which focused on helping young Jewish women in the agricultural business. The Tegucigalpa Jewish community helped develop the tourist industry by building hotels, offering better services to visitors, and helping the city prosper.
The Jewish activist Boris Goldstein was also known for donating the land needed to build a synagogue and establish a Jewish cemetery, and for leading the San Pedro Sula region.
In general, the new immigrants tried to maintain a sense of the Jewish religion and ethnicity. However, they did not pass their knowledge and love of the religion on to the second generation of Honduran Jews. Unfortunately, the new generations were never versed in Torah reading and could not follow services. Assimilation and intermarriage were not only common but also widely accepted, although there were instances in which non-Jewish spouses chose to convert to Judaism.
Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, the nation absorbed many Israeli immigrants who worked with the Jewish community and helped expand their knowledge in areas such as engineering, agriculture, and security. This once again invigorated the Honduran Jewish community. During this period, several Hondurans who had spent time in Israel established the Honduras Israel Cultural Institute and brought back what they learned about their Jewish heritage to share with the community.
Honduras Today
Honduras has seen a resurgence of Jewish life, with the two dominant Jewish communities in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula growing and becoming more active. Each community has a synagogue that holds Kabbalat Shabbat services and a congregation that celebrates and teaches religious holidays and customs. In addition, the nation has affiliated with the Jewish Agency, Maccabi, and the Federation of Zionist Latin American Students.
In 1998, Honduras was devastated by Hurricane Mitch. The storm damaged Tegucigalpa’s only synagogue. Afterward, Jewish communities that learned of the destruction contributed money to restore the temple.
Congregants from the Jewish Community Center on the Hudson, in Tarrytown, New York, went to Honduras to help hurricane victims. While sorting through the debris, they came across one of the two Torahs that belonged to the Synagogue of Tegucigalpa. It was covered in mud and damaged, but congregation volunteers decided to take the scroll back to the U.S. for repair. They restored it and sent it back to the community.
Today, the Republic of Honduras is home to 11.2 million people. It is predominantly Roman Catholic; nevertheless, the 40-50 Jewish families that live in the country have experienced little anti-Semitism. One exception was a comment made by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga in 2002 suggesting that American Jews manipulated the media to exploit the scandal concerning sexual abuse by Catholic priests as a means of diverting attention from the crisis concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Relations with Israel
In 2019, Honduras announced it was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and opening a “diplomatic office” in Jerusalem that would serve as an extension of its Tel Aviv-based embassy.
In January 2020, Honduras designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
Following a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez announced via Twitter on September 20, 2020, “To strengthen our strategic alliance, we spoke to arrange the opening of the embassies in Tegucigalpa and Jerusalem, respectively.”
Hernandez returned to Jerusalem in June 2021 to open the embassy in Jerusalem. Israel planned to follow with a diplomatic office in Tegucigalpa.
In 2022, Xiomara Castro, a left-leaning president, took office and adopted a more critical tone toward Israeli policies compared with the previous administration. After the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and the ensuing war in Gaza, relations between Honduras and Israel cooled further under Castro’s government. In November 2023, Honduras recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations, citing concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. However, Tegucigalpa did not sever diplomatic relations or close its embassy in Jerusalem, which the previous administration of Juan Orlando Hernández had moved there in 2021. Diplomatic ties remained formally intact but strained, with Honduras delaying the acceptance of Israel’s ambassador and keeping its own ambassador out of Israel for an extended period, leaving the relationship in diplomatic tension until the subsequent election cycle.
The relationship remained in this cooled state until the December 2025 election of conservative leader Nasry “Tito” Asfura, whose victory Israel welcomed as a potential turning point for restoring closer bilateral relations.
In March 2026, Honduras announced it was withdrawing from the “Hague Group,” a bloc described by Israel as hostile and aimed at promoting diplomatic, legal, and economic action against Israel, including efforts to enforce ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials and ICJ rulings against Israel. The decision followed diplomatic outreach by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who has prioritized strengthening ties in Latin America as part of Israel’s 2026 foreign policy agenda. Sa’ar welcomed the move, praising Honduran President Nasry “Tito” Asfura for what he called a principled stand and reaffirming the strong friendship between the two countries. In its official statement, Honduras said the withdrawal reflects its desire to conduct a sovereign, independent, and balanced foreign policy without joining blocs that could limit its diplomatic autonomy, while reiterating its commitment to international law, humanitarian principles, multilateral dialogue, and a peaceful resolution of conflicts in the Middle East.
Two months later, Honduran President Nasry Asfura told Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in Costa Rica that Honduras would return its ambassador to Israel in the coming weeks, reversing the previous government’s recall during the Gaza war. Herzog said the meeting, which followed Asfura’s January visit to Jerusalem, focused on a new chapter in Israel-Honduras relations and the potential to expand cooperation between the two countries.
Later that month, Honduras designated Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as terrorist entities, saying the move reflected Tegucigalpa’s “commitment to peace, international security and the fight against terrorism in all its forms.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised Honduran President Nasry Asfura for the decision, calling it “another important reinforcement in the global campaign against terrorism,” including in Latin America.
In July 2026, Israel sent an emergency ophthalmology mission to Honduras after President Nasry Asfura requested assistance during a January visit to Israel. Organized by MASHAV with Israel’s embassy, Sheba Medical Center and the JDC, the delegation treated 155 patients, performing successful eye surgery on 136 while training local medical teams. Israel also planned to provide glaucoma equipment in August and dispatch another medical delegation in November.
In August, Israel and Honduras signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen defense cooperation. Defense ministers Israel Katz and Enrique Rodríguez Burchard signed the agreement during the latter’s visit, which included discussions of shared security challenges, expanded cooperation, and lessons from Israel’s recent wars.
Sources: Anti-Defamation League, “Press Release: Anti-Semitism- International,” ADL Outraged by Honduran Cardinal’s Jewish Conspiracy Theory.
Phil Gellman, “Union Judia de Congregaciones de Latinoamerica y el Caribe,” A Very Special Story.
Lonely Planet Publications, “Honduras History,” Lonely Planet World Guide.
Howard Sachar, “Columbus consulted with Jews, and transported some to the New World,” MyJewishlearning.com.
Yaeli Zylberman, “Union Judia de Congregaciones de Latinoamerica y el Caribe,“ Honduras.
“Honduras recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” France24, (August 28, 2019).
Lahav Harkov and Rachel Wolf, “Colombia and Honduras designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization,” Jerusalem Post, (January 20, 2020).
Maayan Lubell and Gustavo Palencia, “Honduras hopes to move Israel embassy to Jerusalem by end of year,” Reuters, (September 20, 2020).
“Honduran president in Israel for opening of Jerusalem embassy,” i24 News, (June 24, 2021).
“Honduras recalls ambassador to Israel over ‘serious humanitarian situation’ in Gaza,” Times of Israel, (November 4, 2023).
Itamar Eichner, “‘Friends of Israel are back’: Honduras election seen as turning point for ties with Jerusalem,” Ynet, (December 25, 2025).
@CancilleriaHN, (March 4, 2026).
Jonathan Lis, “Honduras and Chile Envoys Set to Return to Israel After Recall During Gaza War,” Haaretz, (May 8, 2026).
Lazar Berman, “Honduras designates IRGC, Hamas as terror groups,” Times of Israel, (May 15, 2026).
Itamar Eichner, “Honduras’ president asked for help, Israel sent eye surgeons,” Ynet, (July 16, 2026).
Leo Feierberg Better, “Israel, Honduras deepen defense ties with new memorandum of understanding,” Jerusalem Post, (August 17, 2026).
Photo Credit: Adalberto Hernandez Vega from Copan Ruinas, Honduras.”https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yisrael-katz