A few isolated Jews came to Paraguay from France, Switzerland, and Italy toward the end of the 19th century and merged with the native population without ever establishing a community. On the eve of World War I, a number of Sephardi Jews emigrated from Palestine. The families, Arditi, Cohenca, Levi, Mendelzon, and Varzan, formed the first community, la Alianza Israelita, in 1917 and established the first synagogue with other Sephardim from Turkey and Greece.

A second wave of immigration in the early 1920s brought Jews from the Ukraine and Poland who founded the Ashkenazi community, Union Hebraica. Between 1933 and 1939, between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia took advantage of Paraguay’s liberal immigration laws to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe. Most of them used Paraguay or their Paraguayan visas as stepping stones to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, where immigration laws were more severe. The small fraction that remained in Paraguay established the Union de Israelitas por Socorro Mutuo. This group built the main synagogue, later located within the premises of the Union Hebraica. After World War II, a last group of immigrants, mostly survivors from the concentration camps, arrived.

There were some short-lived anti-Semitic decrees in 1936 and some anti-Semitic incidents prior to the establishment of the regime of General Alfredo Stroessner in 1954; however, after that, Jews were not disturbed.

Today, the Jewish community numbers approximately 1,100, most of whom live in the capital, Asuncion. The intermarriage rate is rising, but most of the intermarried couples provide their children with a Jewish education. The community, however, is declining through immigration to Argentina and Brazil. Occasionally immigrants come from those countries to Paraguay, especially due to marriage. A trickle of Jews — 50 people since 1948 — have immigrated to Israel.

The community supports a Jewish school named Escuela Integral Estado de Israel, at which Hebrew and Jewish studies are taught in addition to the Paraguayan curriculum. The Estado de Israel school is attended by 71 percent of the Jewish children. About 50 Jewish students are enrolled at the university, in addition to others who study abroad.

Most Paraguayan Jews work in commerce or industry, but the Jewish community is heavily outnumbered by the richer and more influential Arab colony, whose members engage actively in Paraguayan politics and have intermarried with the country’s most influential families. There are also some 40,000 Germans or people of German descent, many of whom openly supported the Nazis before and during World War II. A number of prominent Nazis, among them Josef Mengele of Auschwitz, found temporary shelter in Paraguay. In June 2000, neo-Nazis distributed pamphlets at the American University in Asunción. The pamphlets invited all those with complaints against Jews to come to a meeting. Also, in 2000, a teacher was dismissed from the same university following a complaint against him for telling anti-Semitic jokes. Despite these incidents, the Jewish community lives, for the most part, undisturbed.

The Jewish community established the Consejo Representativo Israelita del Paraguay, which represents the Jewish community to the public and authorities. Among its achievements is its successful lobbying effort to prevent the closing of the Israeli Embassy in Asuncion. Additionally, community leaders exerted pressure on the government after the Buenos Aires DAIA bombing, leading to the extradition from Paraguay of seven Arabs suspected of complicity in the attack.

Asuncion has three synagogues, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Chabad, which distribute kosher food and provide a mikvah to the community. The city also has a Jewish museum with a Holocaust memorial. Socially and for the youth, there is a Jewish sports club, a B’nai B’rith club, a Centro Israelita Juvenil, a WIZO chapter, and a Ha-No’ar ha-Ziyyoni movement.

Relations with Israel

Paraguay voted in 1947 for the UN Resolution on the partition of Palestine and has always been friendly to Israel. The population, which lost two-thirds of its members in the war against an array of larger nations between 1865 and 1870, tends to empathize with Israel. An Israeli Embassy was established in 1968.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes in Jerusalem on July 19, 2016. The leaders met privately as well as with their delegations and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on technical development assistance for Paraguay. Issues of security, water, agriculture, trade, and legal matters were discussed, and a joint declaration was released. This was the first visit to Israel by a Paraguayan president.

Paraguay was the second country to follow suit after the U.S. moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in May 2018. The new Paraguayan Embassy was located in the Malha Technological Park, next to the new Guatemalan embassy that was opened just a week prior. Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes attended the opening celebration, along with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and various other government officials from both countries. President Cartes stated that the opening of the new embassy expresses the sincere friendship and brave solidarity between Paraguay and Israel, adding I am not a lukewarm friend.

President Cartes left office shortly after the embassy move decision was made, and his successor Mario Abdo Benitez took office in August 2018. The Benitez administration immediately reversed the Cartes administration’s embassy decision and announced on September 6, 2018, that the Paraguayan embassy in Israel would be moving back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem. In response, Israel closed its embassy in Paraguay and recalled its ambassador.

When Santiago Peña was elected president of Paraguay in 2023, he was expected to fulfill his campaign pledge to reverse the decision of his predecessor and reopen its embassy in the capital. Israel also agreed to reopen its mission in Asunción.

On December 11, 2024, Peña conducted an official state visit to Israel, underscoring Paraguay’s renewed commitment to the relationship. Paraguay’s decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem was central to the visit—a move first announced in 2018 but later reversed. Peña’s visit highlights the strengthening ties between the two nations and Paraguay’s vocal rejection of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

In his Knesset address, Netanyahu praised Paraguay for its unwavering support and rejection of what he called the ICC’s “scandalous, anti-Semitic decision.” He emphasized Israel’s resolve to defend itself against terrorism and criticized the international community’s misplaced accusations. Netanyahu commended Peña for standing with Israel and advocating truth in international forums.

Peña reiterated Paraguay’s solidarity with Israel, citing shared values of resilience, religiosity, and strong leadership. He justified the embassy move by affirming Jerusalem as Israel’s “eternal capital” and condemned rising anti-Semitism. Paraguay’s government had criticized the ICC decision as a politicization of international law, undermining efforts for peace and stability in the Middle East.

In April 2025, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced the designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with Hamas and Hezbollah, as terrorist organizations. Paraguay emphasized its commitment to international peace, human rights, and global security, describing the designations as vital for dismantling terrorist entities and reinforcing cooperation with allied nations in the fight against extremism. The move was praised by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and welcomed by the U.S. State Department. Sa’ar hailed the decision as a critical step in countering Iran’s global terrorism network and urged other nations to follow suit.

Sa’ar met with President Santiago Peña and senior Paraguayan officials in Asunción in November 2025 to discuss expanding bilateral and economic relations, regional developments in the Middle East and South America, and boosting security cooperation. Sa’ar’s office said the two countries were set to sign a memorandum of understanding to deepen their security collaboration. He also thanked Peña for Paraguay’s April decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. He praised Paraguay for moving its embassy to Jerusalem in December 2024.

The following month, the Paraguayan House of Representatives has officially adopted the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, following a visit last week by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. The decision mandates that all parliamentary units integrate the definition into their work and training programs. During his visit, Saar met with House President Raul Latour and addressed both chambers of Congress, emphasizing the need to combat anti-Semitism.

Sources: Jack Khoury, Paraguay to Move Embassy Back to Tel Aviv From Jerusalem; Israel Retaliates - Shuts Embassy, Haaretz, (September 6, 2018).
Herb Keinon, Netanyahu at Paraguay Embassy opening: Israel has no better friend than Paraguay, Jerusalem Post, (May 21, 2018).
Latin American Allies, Jerusalem Post, (September 10, 2017).
Avi Beker. Jewish Communities of the World. Company; Minnesota, 1998.
“Paraguay,” Encyclopedia Judaica.
The Stephen Roth Institute of the Tel Aviv University.
Jacob Magid, “New Paraguay leader to reopen Jerusalem embassy within year, Israel says,” Times of Israel, (August 16, 2023).
Eliav Breuer, “Netanyahu commends Paraguayan president on response to ICC arrest warrant,” Jerusalem Post, (December 11, 2024).
“Sa’ar praises Paraguay for designating IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah as terror orgs.” Jerusalem Post, (April 25, 2025).
Nava Freiberg, “Sa’ar meets Paraguayan president in Asunción to boost economic and security ties,” Times of Israel, (November 24, 2025).
@IsraelinPY, (December 4, 2025).

Map: CIA-World Fact Book

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