Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Apr. 01, 2017
Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Net revenues	$ 716,795	$ 604,801
Costs of products sold	511,495	443,052
Gross profit	205,300	161,749
Selling, general, and administrative expenses	101,238	92,702
Restructuring and severance costs	0	1,469
Operating income	104,062	67,578
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(7,677)	(6,790)
Other components of net periodic pension cost	(3,519)	(2,890)
Other	(847)	(396)
Loss on disposal of equity affiliate	0	(7,060)
Nonoperating Income (Expense), Total	(12,043)	(17,136)
Income before taxes	92,019	50,442
Income tax expense	29,474	13,493
Net earnings	62,545	36,949
Less: net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	179	230
Net earnings attributable to Vishay stockholders	$ 62,366	$ 36,719
Basic earnings per share attributable to Vishay stockholders	$ 0.43	$ 0.25
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Vishay stockholders	$ 0.39	$ 0.24
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic	144,327	146,274
Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted	159,502	154,876
Cash dividends per share	$ 0.0675	$ 0.0625