Are Israelites, Hebrews and Jews the same?

Hebrew

Abraham is called “Avram the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13). The sages explain the name as “from the other side” (ever) – he came from across the Euphrates, and he stood on one side of the world in his belief in one God while everyone else stood on the other. The language is still called Hebrew.

Israel

After wrestling with the angel, Jacob was told: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel” (Genesis 32:29). His sons and their descendants are the Children of Israel. In Jewish law today a Jew is still called “Yisrael”, and the ancient tribal distinctions survive in the kohanim (priests) and levi’im.

Jew

The southern kingdom, Judah, outlasted the northern one. Its exiles in Babylon and Persia were called Yehudim, and the name came to cover the whole people.

Israeli

“Israeli” is a modern civic term for citizens of the State of Israel, founded in 1948. Most Israelis are Jewish, but Israel also has Arab, Druze and other citizens, and most of the world’s Jews outside Israel are not Israelis.

Hebrews, Israelites and Jews in Jewish law

Jewish law does not distinguish between these names: anyone born to a Jewish mother or converted according to halachah belongs to the same people, whichever tribe their ancestors came from. The Talmud’s rule “an Israelite, even though he sinned, remains an Israelite” (Sanhedrin 44a) means that the status is not lost by non-observance. In the synagogue a Jew is still called to the Torah as kohen, levi or yisrael, and those three words are the only tribal labels that survive in practice.

Groups that claim the name

Some modern groups describe themselves as “Hebrew Israelites” and teach that they, not the Jews, are the true descendants of Israel. Mainstream Judaism does not recognise these claims; joining the Jewish people is possible only through birth or conversion.