# Jewish heads of state/government **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613 "2007-12-29T18:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/41 "2022-03-18T14:41:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Because of this thread I tried to look up if Netanyahu is religious. Wikipedia says he was born to secular Jewish parents but other than seeing one of his ex-wives converted to marry him (which could have been a political move) I’m not seeing much on his beliefs. (And for the record, Prime Minister Bennett is the first Israeli PM to wear a yarmulke and define himself as religious, if that means anything.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/42 "2022-03-18T14:51:45Z")
> [@Who is a Jew? (removed from thread on Jewish heads of state)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-a-jew-removed-from-thread-on-jewish-heads-of-state/961719/1): > > The division between “cultural Jew” and “religious Jew” that people in this threat are trying to apply is an imposition of a Gentile worldview on Jewish thought, and is deeply offensive. Please stop. No. Asking if there are/have been practicing Jews as Heads of State or Heads Of Government is not at all offensive if one does not even imply that one is better than the other. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/43 "2022-03-18T14:53:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No. Asking if there are/have been practicing Jews as Heads of State or Heads Of Government is not at all offensive if one does not even imply that one is better than the other. No, but implying that a Jew who happens to be an atheist isn’t Jewish, is. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/44 "2022-03-18T14:55:16Z")
Has this happened here? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/45 "2022-03-18T15:10:51Z")
There’s a lack of clarity here about phrases like “Jewish in a religious sense”. On the one hand it can mean, “Jews who are observant of Jewish religious laws”; but on the other hand, it can also mean “Jews who are Jewish in accordance with Jewish law.” Discussing the first can be legitimate discussion, although in my experience, outsiders don’t appreciate how closely heritage, culture and religion are intertwined in Jewish thought. Discussing the second is a major political minefield, because it can be used to imply that people, who are Jewish by any definition accepted by Jews, are somehow not Jewish. Zelenskyy, for instance, is Jewish, End of story. He’s Jewish by descent, and he self-identifies as Jewish. What he may or may not believe in is irrelevant to the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/46 "2022-03-18T15:13:39Z")
And if the question were “Is Zelenskyy Jewish”, then that would be the answer. But that’s not the question the OP is asking. The question the OP is asking is whether he practices his religion, and the answer to that question might be different. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/47 "2022-03-18T15:17:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > He’s Jewish by descent, and he self-identifies as Jewish. What he may or may not believe in is irrelevant to the discussion. I don’t think it is irrelevant to _this_ discussion, because if it is then the entire discussion is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/57 "2022-03-18T21:15:42Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Zelenskyy, for instance, is Jewish, End of story. He’s Jewish by descent, and he self-identifies as Jewish. What he may or may not believe in is irrelevant to the discussion. The hawks/paid Russian trolls in a Toronto Jewish Facebook group were discounting support for Zelinskyy by pointing out his wife and kids are baptized Eastern Orthodox. Don’t get me started on this group of yutzes. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/62 "2022-03-18T22:52:42Z")
While this discussion is really fascinating, it was never my intention to turn this thread into a debate about Jewish identity. All I’m asking about are heads of state and heads of government that are avowedly religious Jews. This excludes secularists and atheists _from this particular question_ without taking any stance whatsoever on whether they are actually Jews. If that’s something you want to debate, please take it to some other forum (Great Debates or IMHO, I suppose). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613/63 "2022-03-25T20:51:52Z")
And, with the blessing of some FQ mods, I’ve moved that side discussion to its own thread: > [@Who is a Jew? (removed from thread on Jewish heads of state)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jew-removed-from-thread-on-jewish-heads-of-state/961719): > > Puzzlegal: This thread started out as a side discussion here: Puzzlegal: There was discussion as to “how Jewish is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s current head of state?”, and it led to this digression. As there seemed to be a lot of interest in this, it is now its own thread. Everything above this point was added by me, Puzzlegal, for context. Below this sentence is a post made by Alessan. That’s because Jews don’t make that distinction, either. As far as most Jews are concerned, … Please stick to the narrow topic described in the OP for this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-heads-of-state-government/431613.md?page=2)