Israel–Philippines Relations

The Philippines’ reception of Jewish refugees before Israel’s establishment and its support for partition in November 1947 provide two enduring historical reference points for bilateral friendship.[1] The relationship subsequently developed through formal diplomacy, trade, cooperative projects, and a widening framework of bilateral agreements.[3][5] Political dialogue was institutionalized through a 1997 memorandum of understanding between the two foreign ministries.[3]

Contemporary cooperation spans agriculture, defense, labor, tourism, technology, innovation, trade, and investment.[2] These connections operate at different levels: ministerial visits and intergovernmental agreements accompany commercial transactions, Filipino employment in Israel, and tourism, including religious travel.[2][3] Humanitarian assistance is another component, illustrated by Israeli search-and-rescue and medical assistance following Typhoon Ketsana in 2009.[3]

The relationship also links national diplomacy with the history and institutions of Philippine Jewry.[1] The Jewish Association of the Philippines is affiliated with the World Jewish Congress, while a monument erected in Rishon Lezion in 2009 honors the Philippines’ reception of Jewish refugees and its support for partition.[1] These commemorative ties coexist with practical cooperation in caregiver recruitment,[6] environmental protection,[7] and defense procurement.[3]

On November 17, 1938, hundreds of Filipinos rallied in Manila to protest Nazi persecution of German and Austrian Jews and denounce the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9–10.[1] The Philippine Commonwealth’s open-door policy offered refuge to Jews escaping persecution in Europe, ultimately providing a haven for approximately 1,200–1,300 German and Austrian Jews.[1] A contemporary account published in 1944 recorded that around 700 Jewish refugees had found asylum in and around Manila by the end of 1939.[8]

President Manuel Quezon worked with U.S. High Commissioner Paul McNutt and members of the Frieder family to facilitate the rescue effort.[1][9] The Frieder brothers helped arrange transportation and visas, while Quezon supplied land for temporary accommodation at Mariquina Hall.[9] Other participants in planning included businessman Herbert Frieder and U.S. Army Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower.[1] In 1939, Quezon directed the construction of a housing community for Jewish refugees in Marikina and allotted a farm and settlement area in Mindanao.[1]

Quezon’s ambitions extended beyond the refugees who actually arrived.[9] Following the Evian Conference in 1938, he proposed admitting 1,000 Jewish refugees from Germany annually for ten years and establishing agricultural settlements on Mindanao.[10] The proposal encountered opposition in both the Philippines and the United States, including resistance from people seeking to settle in Mindanao and from bureaucrats and politicians.[10] Repeated reformulations failed to bring the larger project to fruition, and it was abandoned in 1942 after the United States entered the war.[10] The Commonwealth’s refugee committee also favored applicants with useful professions, including medicine, mechanics, and accounting.[11]

The refugees’ experience changed after Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941.[11] Some initially enjoyed relative safety because their German or Austrian passports led Japanese authorities to treat them as nationals of an allied country.[1][11] Nevertheless, survivors experienced severe hardship during the occupation and fighting, and Manila was devastated during the month-long Battle of Manila.[11] One survivor recalled a friend being killed after stepping on a mine.[11]

On November 29, 1947, the Philippines voted for the United Nations partition plan for Palestine, joining the 33 countries supporting the resolution and becoming the only Asian country to do so.[12] That decision became an important historical reference point in later expressions of friendship between the two countries.[12] The Philippines formally recognized Israel in 1949, and trade and cooperative projects expanded during the 1950s and 1960s.[13]

A Philippine diplomatic presence in Israel began with the appointment of an honorary consul in 1950.[12] Full diplomatic relations were established on May 13, 1957.[12] Relations were elevated to ambassadorial level in 1962, the year associated with the opening of embassies in Tel Aviv and Manila.[13][3] A diplomatic-missions memorandum from 1962 recorded that the Philippines had not yet established its mission in Israel at the time covered by that memorandum.[14] Israel’s diplomatic-missions listing dates its representation in Manila to August 1957 and also lists an honorary consul in Cebu.[15]

Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir visited the Philippines in 1962 and received an honorary degree from Ateneo de Manila University.[12] In a retrospective review, Freddy Eytan places Israel’s diplomatic activity in the Philippines within a wider expansion of Asian representation despite Arab-state obstruction, noting that Israeli diplomatic officials were present there by the end of 1960.[16] He also links the growth of Israel’s Asian trade to the period following the 1956 Sinai Campaign.[16]

President Rodrigo Duterte made a four-day official visit to Israel in September 2018, meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.[6] Before the trip, he was scheduled to become the first Philippine president to visit Israel since the establishment of diplomatic ties.[4] The visit produced agreements and memorandums concerning elderly care, science, commerce, and investment, while discussions covered economic and transportation links, including possible direct flights.[6] Netanyahu and Duterte also highlighted the historical relationship and the Philippine vote for partition.[17]

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Manila in June 2023 and met President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.[18] It was the first visit by an Israeli foreign minister since Abba Eban’s visit in 1967.[18] Cohen inaugurated a new wing at Israel’s embassy and met members of the local Jewish community and business representatives.[18] His delegation focused on agriculture, water, energy, clean technology, security, cyber, emergency preparedness, and health.[7]

Bilateral agreements have progressively broadened the institutional framework for cooperation.[5] A partial list includes visa exemption in 1969, avoidance of double taxation in 1992, agricultural cooperation in 1994, telecommunications in 1997, and customs cooperation in 2010.[5] Further agreements covered tourism and aviation in 2015, science and technology and foreign labor issues in 2018, and investment protection and economic cooperation in 2022.[5]

Annual bilateral trade stood at approximately US$175 million in 2016.[19] In 2022, trade in goods reached $534 million, a reported increase of 70 percent over the previous year.[2] Israeli exports to the Philippines totaled $340 million, up 94 percent, with machinery and electronic equipment accounting for 45 percent and transportation equipment for 30 percent.[2] Imports from the Philippines totaled $193 million, up 39 percent, and machinery and electronic equipment represented 83 percent of those imports.[2] These figures excluded trade in services.[2]

During Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez’s June 2022 visit to Israel, the countries signed an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and a memorandum on economic cooperation and establishment of a Joint Economic Commission.[2] The commission was intended to promote bilateral trade, while the investment agreement was expected to enter into force subsequently.[2] The first joint economic committee met in July 2025 and announced discussions to examine the feasibility of a free-trade agreement.[20] An Israeli economic office had opened in Manila in 2020.[20]

By September 2026, a free-trade agreement remained a stated Philippine goal, and the countries were discussing ways to deepen commerce.[21] Bilateral trade in 2025 was approximately $362.2 million, concentrated primarily in semiconductors, electronics, and aircraft parts.[21] Discussions also encompassed cooperation under the Pax Silica Initiative, focusing on critical minerals, semiconductors, and innovation.[21]

Aviation cooperation long preceded the announcement of an operating direct route.[22][21] In 2013, a new air-services agreement replaced a 1951 agreement and permitted carriers from each country to operate up to 21 scheduled passenger flights and three cargo flights weekly, along with specified code-sharing arrangements.[22] There was still no active direct service when Arkia announced a Tel Aviv–Manila route in September 2026.[23] The airline planned to begin one weekly Sunday flight on January 3, 2027, using an Airbus A330, initially testing demand among tourists, business travelers, Filipino workers, and religious visitors.[21][23]

Tourism cooperation received a further framework in December 2024, when Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz and Philippine Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco signed a memorandum in Manila.[24] It covered marketing, aviation, innovation, digitalization, and work in international organizations, and was intended as the basis for a broader agreement replacing the 1987 tourism agreement.[24] Approximately 40,000 visitors from the Philippines traveled to Israel in 2024, mostly for religious reasons, placing the Philippines fifth among countries sending visitors that year.[24] An earlier figure recorded 23,500 Filipinos traveling to Israel for tourism and work in 2017.[19]

Filipino employment in Israel, especially home caregiving, constitutes a substantial people-to-people connection.[4] A pre-visit account in 2018 estimated the community at approximately 28,000 workers, most employed as home caregivers, while another contemporary estimate placed Filipino workers between 30,000 and 50,000 among roughly 300,000 expatriate workers in Israel.[4][19] These figures represent different estimates rather than a single fixed population count.[4][19]

A caregiving agreement signed during Duterte’s 2018 visit was intended to regulate recruitment and remove placement companies from the process amid concerns about unlawful brokerage charges running into thousands of dollars.[6] Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Hernando Bello signed the agreement, and Netanyahu said it would reduce costs by as much as $12,000 per caregiver.[17] In 2019, the countries approved an agreement covering caregiving and hotel work, intended to protect Filipino workers already in Israel and regulate recruitment.[25] It also envisaged allowing hotels to recruit about 1,000 Filipino employees in the short term.[25]

Defense cooperation has included air-defense systems, artillery, drones, naval vessels, radar, and anti-tank equipment.[3][26] In February 2015, the Philippine Department of National Defense contracted Elta Systems, an Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary, to supply three ELM-2288 air-defense and air-traffic-control radar systems for $56 million.[3] The equipment was intended to support patrol and surveillance of Philippine territory in the South China Sea.[3] Philippine purchases of Israeli radar and anti-tank equipment totaled $21 million in 2017, and Duterte thanked Israel for assistance during the Marawi siege that year.[27]

Subsequent procurement included Rafael SPYDER air-defense systems, Elbit ATMOS artillery and drones, and a $114 million Elbit Systems contract in 2023 for two long-range patrol planes.[26][3] A major naval program involved a $200 million contract for nine Israel Shipyards patrol boats equipped with Rafael Typhoon weapon stations.[26] The cooperation also included upgrades to a Philippine Navy shipyard and training for Filipino naval technicians at the shipyard in Haifa to maintain the vessels.[24] In late 2024, delivery of the final boat was expected in June 2025.[24]

Environmental and disaster-related cooperation has accompanied commercial and security ties.[7] Cohen and Manalo signed a memorandum on environmental protection in June 2023, including exchanges of practices concerning ecosystem preservation, disaster-risk management, and environmental technologies.[7] Following Typhoon Ketsana in 2009, Israel sent a search-and-rescue unit and a medical team of six volunteer doctors, nurses, and paramedics associated with IsraAID to assist injured people.[3]

The monument erected in Rishon Lezion’s Holocaust Memorial Park in 2009 gives a physical expression to the remembrance of Philippine assistance to Jews.[1] It commemorates both the refuge provided during the Nazi era and the Philippines’ vote for partition.[1] The memorial also honors Quezon’s role in opening the country to Jewish refugees.[11] Duterte’s planned 2018 itinerary included Yad Vashem and a ceremony connected with the monument commemorating the rescue.[4]

The Filipino caregiving community connects the relationship directly to Israeli households and institutions.[28] In October 2023, approximately two-thirds of the roughly 30,000 Filipinos in Israel worked in home care for elderly or infirm people, including residents of kibbutzim attacked on October 7.[28] At the time of an October report, the Philippine government had confirmed at least two Filipino deaths, while seven Filipinos working near the Gaza Strip were unaccounted for and believed abducted.[28] These were contemporary figures published while the fate of missing people was still being established.[28]

The broader toll on foreign caregivers and workers extended beyond Philippine nationals.[29] Seven caregivers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Moldova were killed during the October 7 Hamas attack, without a separate Filipino total given in that accounting.[29] Across migrant workers and agriculture students, 34 people were taken hostage; 24 were released in November, at least one was reported killed in captivity, and ten remained captive in Gaza at the end of 2023.[29] That accounting did not identify the hostages’ nationalities.[29] Marcos subsequently called for the release of hostages, condemned terrorism, and reaffirmed friendship with Israel.[30]

The relationship has also provided a setting for discussion of wider regional connectivity.[18] During his 2023 visit, Cohen discussed opportunities arising from the Abraham Accords and new overflight permissions over Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as a possible sea-and-land route linking Asia and Europe through the Middle East and Israel.[18] Later discussions of direct flights, semiconductor trade, and innovation similarly connected bilateral cooperation with transportation and technology networks beyond the two countries.[21]

The motives behind the Philippine vote for partition involve a documented change of position.[31] On November 26, 1947, delegate Carlos P. Romulo indicated that the Philippines would oppose partition; the delegation voted in favor three days later.[31] President Manuel Roxas told the U.S. ambassador that he had ordered the change because he feared an adverse effect on U.S.–Philippine relations, citing a report from Ambassador Elizalde and a telegram from approximately ten U.S. senators.[31] Another diplomatic episode concerned a Philippine amendment in December 1952 mentioning Jerusalem’s internationalization: the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs presents it as an unsuccessful amendment to a draft resolution calling for direct negotiations.[32]

Historical accounts also identify difficulties in development cooperation.[33] Joint agricultural projects under the Marcos government nearly halted amid corruption and resumed under Corazon Aquino.[33] A separate historical assessment connected Philippine concern over an insurgency among its Muslim minority with both tension and identification in its relationship with Israel; that assessment concerns a particular historical setting, not present-day Philippine opinion.[13]

Duterte’s 2018 visit drew protests and criticism over his policies and his 2016 comparison of his anti-drug campaign to Hitler’s murder of Jews.[6][4] He publicly apologized in October 2016, saying he had not intended to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Germans.[4] A 2026 academic study of Israeli arms diplomacy critically argued that security ties with the Philippines and Myanmar took precedence over human-rights concerns.[34]

Labor cooperation encountered a significant dispute in 2023, when the Philippines suspended its bilateral work agreement.[35] Manila alleged that an Israeli policy permitting domestic-caregiver recruitment companies to charge workers three payments totaling 6,107 shekels contravened the agreement.[35] The suspension was again recorded in 2025; meanwhile, Israel approved a new recruitment framework in May 2024 prioritizing bilateral agreements and allowing private recruitment only from countries deemed to be making significant efforts against human trafficking.[36]

Defense-procurement relations deteriorated in 2025, when Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the Philippines would not buy new Israeli weapons systems, while continuing to obtain equipment for systems already in service.[37] Between 2019 and 2023, the Philippines accounted for 12 percent of global purchases of Israeli arms, ranking second after India, and some Elbit equipment was expected to remain in Philippine service for another 20 years.[37] Earlier contracts formed part of the Horizon 3 modernization program for 2023–2028.[37]

Reports differed over the reasons for the procurement impasse.[38] One account emphasized Philippine requests for a public Israeli statement supporting Manila’s South China Sea claims, while another emphasized political pressure connected with the Gaza war.[38] Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected as “baseless” the claim that its South China Sea position was decisive; existing contracts continued to be fulfilled even as new agreements stalled.[26][38]