Uzbekistan and Israel Sign Archives Agreement as Research Into Samarkand’s Jewish Past Expands

Uzbekistan’s national archives agency, Uzarkhiv, and the Israel State Archives have signed a memorandum of understanding on archival cooperation, a step that could widen access to records documenting Jewish life in Central Asia, the homeland of the Bukharian Jewish community. The memorandum was signed at the National Archives of Uzbekistan in Tashkent by Uzarkhiv director Ulugbek Yusupov and Ruth Avramovich, chief archivist of the Israel State Archives, who led the Israeli delegation, according to UzDaily, the Tashkent Times and the Uzbek government portal gov.uz. The Bukharian Times republished the UzDaily report in its Oct. 29 edition. Israel’s ambassador to Uzbekistan, Gideon Lustig, attended along with archivists, scholars and members of the public from both countries. The government portal also listed among the participants the State Archives’ legal adviser and Academician Saidasror Gulyamov, director of the Uzbekistan-Israel friendship society. The reports are dated Oct. 19 (gov.uz) through Oct. 23 (UzDaily); The Bukharian Times gave the ceremony date as Oct. 22. What the agreement covers According to the reports, the two sides discussed the preservation, study and digitization of archival documents, protection of historical and cultural heritage, exchange of professional expertise, joint research and the introduction of modern technology in archives. UzDaily reported that the cooperation is also meant to expand access to archival materials for researchers and the public. Lustig, quoted by HD Magazine, said that “scientific and cultural cooperation plays a special role in preserving historical memory.” The memorandum builds on earlier agreements. Uzarkhiv signed a cooperation memorandum with the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in 2021 and an agreement with the Yad Vashem archive in 2022, the reports said. According to the gov.uz account (in Uzbek), the ceremony also included a presentation by historian Muhayyo Isakova titled “Uzbekistan, the Land of Salvation,” on archival documents about people evacuated to Uzbekistan during World War II, including Jews, and how they were received and settled. Background: research on Samarkand’s Jewish community In September, Israel’s embassy in Uzbekistan and Samarkand State University signed an agreement giving the university’s Department of History a research grant to study the history and heritage of Samarkand’s Jewish community, including its contribution to the city’s social, economic and cultural life and its ties to Israel, the embassy said. Samarkand was for centuries one of the main centers of Bukharian Jewish life; most of the community emigrated to Israel and the United States from the late 1980s onward. In September 2025, the same university hosted what the embassy described as the first international conference on the heritage of Bukharian Jews. Neither the archives agreement nor the published reports names specific collections that will be opened or digitized. Sources: UzDaily, Oct. 23, 2026; Tashkent Times, Oct. 22, 2026; gov.uz, Uzarkhiv news, Oct. 19, 2026 (in Uzbek); HD Magazine, Oct. 23, 2026; Embassy of Israel in Uzbekistan, Samarkand State University grant, September 2026; Embassy of Israel in Uzbekistan, Bukharan Jews heritage conference, September 2025; The Bukharian Times, Oct. 29, 2026.