Mahmoud Ahmadinejad : Israel "destined to disappear"

We're coming home.

"Persian Jews or Iranian Jews are Jews historically associated with Iran, traditionally known as Persia in Western sources.

Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran and dates back to the late biblical times. The Book of Esther contains some references to the experiences of Jews in Persia. Some material has been validated by Biblical scholars.

Today, the largest group of Persian Jews is found in Israel. As of 2007, Israel is home to just over 47,000 Iranian-born Jews and roughly 87,000 Israeli-born Jews with fathers born in Iran.[1] While these numbers add up to about 135,000, when Israelis with more distant or solely maternal Iranian roots are included the total number of Persian Jews in Israel is estimated to be between 200,000[2]-250,000.[3]

The United States is home to 60,000-80,000 Iranian Jews, who have settled especially in the Los Angeles area and Great Neck, New York. Those in Los Angeles have settled mostly in the Westsideupper-class cities of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Westside neighborhoods of Brentwood, Westwood, and West L.A., as well as the San Fernando Valley communities ofTarzana and Encino. According to the former mayor of Beverly Hills, Iranians make up at least a fifth of the resident population of Beverly Hills (the large majority of them Jewish),[7] and a third of the student body at the local high school.[4][5] Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, tens of thousands of Persian Jews migrated from Iran, forming one of the wealthiest waves of immigrants to ever come to the United States.[8]

The current Jewish population of Iran is estimated by most sources to be 25,000,[6][7][8][9] though estimates vary, as low as 11,000 [10] and as high as 40,000.[11] Notable population centers include Tehran, Isfahan (1,200)[9], and Shiraz. Historically, Jews maintained a presence in many more Iranian cities. Jews are protected in the Iranian constitution.[7] Iran hosts the largest Jewish population of any Muslim-majority country.[12] After Israel, it is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the Middle East.[6]

Iranian Jews also emigrated to form smaller communities in Western Europe (in particular Paris and London), and in Australia, Canada, and South America. A number of groups of Jews of Persia have split off since ancient times. They have been identified as separate communities, such as the Bukharan Jews and Mountain Jews. In addition, there are several million people in Iran who are, or who are the direct descendants of, Jews who converted to Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.[13]"