The world's 50 most influential Jews have been announced

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The Jerusalem Post has published its 2026 ranking of the world's 50 most influential Jews. The list includes US President's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The creators of the ranking deemed Kushner worthy of the first place. This was primarily attributed to his role in returning Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip. Jared Kushner participated in the US presidential administration's diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the conflict. In October 2025, the last 20 surviving hostages in Gaza were released, and by January 2026, the bodies of those who died were also returned to Israel. In forming the ranking, the influence of the participants was assessed, rather than their popularity.

Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, was also placed in the first position in the ranking. This took into account her public support for the families of Israeli hostages and her participation in events held on the occasion of their release.

Second place was taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The authors of the ranking described him as a figure who has shaped the country's domestic politics for decades and has, in many ways, become the face of Israel abroad. Netanyahu's influence on Israel and Jewish communities worldwide was highly rated.

The top three was rounded out by Israeli politician and former Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot. The Jerusalem Post views him as a candidate for future prime minister. Fourth place was taken by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and fifth place by the President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder. The subsequent positions were taken by billionaire Miriam Adelson, Wiz founder Assaf Rappaport, and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

In ninth place, technology leaders Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) and Mark Zuckerberg (head of Meta) were noted. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei took 26th place. Israeli President Isaac Herzog (14th place) and a number of ministers (15th place) also found a spot in the ranking. Among foreign leaders, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy (21st place) and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum (25th place) were included in the list.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy: A Jewish president who became the face of Ukrainian resistance... He has never placed special emphasis on being Jewish. Perhaps this is his Jewish trait, notes The Jerusalem Post.

The publication recalled that Zelenskyy's grandfather defended Ukraine from the Nazis during World War II, and many members of the president's family perished during the Holocaust.