Share-Based Compensation (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended																			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jul. 06, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 $11.54 - $12.90 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 $16.29 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Dr. Lior Yahalomi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Options [Member] Dr. Felix Zandman [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Options [Member] Dr. Lior Yahalomi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member] Dr. Felix Zandman [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member] Dr. Lior Yahalomi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Phantom Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Phantom Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Phantom Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Phantom Stock Units [Member] Dr. Felix Zandman [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Vested Restricted Stock Units [Member] Dr. Felix Zandman [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Vested Restricted Stock Units [Member] Dr. Lior Yahalomi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 VPG [Member] Phantom Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 1998 Stock Option Program [Member]	Nov. 02, 2001 General Semiconductor plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Stock-based compensation expense recognized	$ 3,544	$ 6,832	$ 2,643					$ 73	$ (83)	$ 619			$ 3,378	$ 6,693	$ 1,849			$ 93	$ 222	$ 175
Unrecognized Compensation Cost	6,339							18					6,321					0
Weighted Average Remaining Amortization Periods (in years)								4 months 24 days					1 year 1 month 6 days					0 days
Maximum number of shares authorized under restricted stock, unrestricted stock, RSU's and stock options to officers, employees and non-employee directors (in shares)	3,000,000																	300,000
Expiration date of 2007 Stock Incentive Plan	May 22, 2017
Outstanding:
Balance (in shares)	384,000	1,254,000	2,728,000																						99,000
Beginning Balance, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 15.40	$ 15.04	$ 19.84
Granted (in shares)	0	0	0
Granted, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Exercised (in shares)	22,095	650,621	0				22,095
Exercised, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 7.89	$ 14.87	$ 0
Cancelled or forfeited (in shares)	(253,000)	(219,000)	(1,733,000)				21,173
Cancelled or forfeited, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 16.12	$ 14.92	$ 20.35
Adjustment due to VPG spin-off (in shares)	0	0	259,000
Adjustment due to VPG spin-off, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Balance (in shares)	109,000	384,000	1,254,000																						99,000
Ending balance, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 15.24	$ 15.40	$ 15.04
Vested and expected to vest (in shares)	109,000	384,000	1,254,000
Exercisable (in shares)
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Exercisable, Number	79,000	323,000	1,001,000
Conversion ratio (in hundredths)																										0.563
Number of shares of Vishay common stock that could have been issued upon the exercise of former General Semiconductor options (in shares)																										4,282,000
Percentage of decrease in exercise price of all stock options as a consequence of spin-off of VPG (in hundredths)				9.48%
Number of stock options held by VPG employees that expired (in shares)			102,000
Available for future grants (in shares)	1,140,000																	85	95	110
Adjustment of performance vesting criteria of performance-based RSUs to reflect the absence of VPG within consolidated results (in hundredths)			10.00%
Shares immediately vested upon occurrence of accelerating event											77,334	29,459				98,375	18,438
Shares to be vested immediately upon the Company's achievement of performance-based criteria																						202,330	55,316
Remaining exercise period for options vested upon accelerating event (in years)		1
RSUs vesting January 1, 2013 (in shares)	324,000
RSUs vesting January 1, 2014 (in shares)	233,000
RSUs vesting January 1, 2015 (in shares)	0
Performance-based restricted stock units affected by failure to meet performance-based vesting criteria	276,000
Weighted-average remaining contractual life of all exercisable options (in years)	4 years 2 months 5 days
Stock price per share (in dollars per share)	$ 10.63
Share-based compensation arrangement by share-based payment award, options, exercisable, intrinsic value	0
Intrinsic value under share based compensation scheme	$ 110	$ 1,693
Unvested:
Balance (in shares)	61,000	253,000	328,000
Granted (in shares)	0	0	0
Vested (in shares)	(31,000)	(192,000)	(81,000)
Forfeited (in shares)	0	0	(19,000)
Adjustment due to VPG spin-off (in shares)	0	0	25,000
Balance (in shares)	30,000	61,000	253,000
Beginning balance, weighted average exercise price of unvested options (in dollars)	$ 9.96	$ 9.33	$ 9.93
Granted, weighted average Grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Vested, weighted average Grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)	$ 9.79	$ 9.13	$ 9.24
Forfeited, weighted average Grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ 7.95
Adjustment due to VPG spin-off, weighted average Grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Ending balance, weighted average exercise price of unvested options (in dollars per share)	$ 10.14	$ 9.96	$ 9.33
Number of RSUs held by VPG employees that expired (in units)			5,000
Outstanding:
Balance (in shares)													891,000	634,000	155,000			87,000	116,000	120,000
Granted (in shares)													437,000	423,000	509,000			10,000	15,000	20,000
Vested (in shares)													(12,000)	(154,000)	(76,000)
Cancelled or forfeited (in shares)													0	(12,000)	(14,000)
Redeemed for common stock (in shares)																		0	(44,000)	(39,000)	43,667			38,667
Adjustment due to VPG spin-off (in shares)													0	0	60,000			0	0	15,000				15,000
Balance (in shares)													1,316,000	891,000	634,000			97,000	87,000	116,000
Beginning balance, Weighted average grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)													$ 12.58	$ 9.61	$ 9.14
Granted, Weighted average grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)													$ 12.31	$ 16.57	$ 10.87			$ 9.33	$ 14.78	$ 8.76
Vested, Weighted average grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)													$ 8.29	$ 11.25	$ 9.68
Cancelled or forfeited, Weighted average grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)													$ 0	$ 13.26	$ 8.83
Adjustment due to VPG spin-off, Weighted average grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)													$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Ending balance, Weighted average grant-date fair value (in dollars per share)													$ 12.53	$ 12.58	$ 9.61
Available for future grants (in shares)	1,140,000																	85	95	110
Share-based Compensation, Shares Authorized under Stock Option Plans, Exercise Price Range [Line Items]
Exercise price range, lower range limit (in dollars per share)					$ 11.54	$ 16.29
Exercise price range, upper range limit (in dollars per share)					$ 12.90	$ 16.29
Options outstanding, number of options (in shares)	109,000				32,000	77,000
Options outstanding, weighted average remaining contractual life (in years)	4 years 2 months 23 days				3 years 10 months 6 days	4 years 4 months 20 days
Options outstanding, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 15.24				$ 12.73	$ 16.29
Options exercisable, number of options (in shares)	79,000				27,000	52,000
Options exercisable, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share)	$ 15.06				$ 12.70	$ 16.29