Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 04, 2020	Mar. 30, 2019
Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Net revenues	$ 612,841	$ 745,159
Costs of products sold	465,601	534,000
Gross profit	147,240	211,159
Selling, general, and administrative expenses	99,832	103,424
Operating income	47,408	107,735
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(8,552)	(8,392)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	(2,920)	(1,307)
Other	198	1,912
Total other income (expense)	(11,274)	(7,787)
Income before taxes	36,134	99,948
Income tax expense	8,750	24,307
Net earnings	27,384	75,641
Less: net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	165	182
Net earnings attributable to Vishay stockholders	$ 27,219	$ 75,459
Basic earnings per share attributable to Vishay stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.19	$ 0.52
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Vishay stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.19	$ 0.52
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic (in shares)	144,792	144,554
Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted (in shares)	145,295	145,289
Cash dividends per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.0950	$ 0.0850