Baghdad estimated that 6,000 to 7,000 Jews would leave; 125,000 did.
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On March 9, 1950, Iraq’s Chamber of Deputies and Senate approved the “Supplement to Ordinance Cancelling Iraqi Nationality” law. It stipulated that Jews could leave the country, on condition they renounce their citizenship and their right to return.
Of the 135,000 Jews living in Iraq, some 125,000 would be airlifted to Israel between 1950 and 1951. Only about 10,000 stayed behind, essentially ending more than 2,500 years of Jewish history in Mesopotamia.
