Vietnamese refugees in Israel

The State of Israel permitted approximately 366 Vietnamese boat people fleeing the 1975 Communist takeover of Vietnam to enter the country during that time period.

[1][2][3] The most well-known rescue operation took place on June 10, 1977 in which an Israeli freighter ship called the Yuvali, en route to Taiwan, sighted the passengers.

"[11] According to a report by JNS, in the refugee camps in the Philippines, Israel offered priority asylum to married couples.

According to a special report on JNS, most immigrants only knew Vietnamese when they arrived and no Hebrew, however one individual, Phong Le Quan who served in the pro-American South Vietnam Army learned English from Americans and was able to assist the community as they struggled to communicate for even simple tasks due to a language barrier.

Prominent Vietnamese-Israelis include Vaan Nguyen, a poet and actress and subject of an award-winning documentary The Journey of Vaan Nguyen;[14][6] Dr. Sabine Huynh, a translator, sociologist and author who fled Vietnam for France in 1976 and has lived in Israel since 2001;[15] and Dao Rochvarger-Wong, who headed Bank Hapoalim in Singapore.