Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 29, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 29, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Consolidated Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Net revenues	$ 685,240	$ 761,030	$ 1,430,399	$ 1,477,825
Costs of products sold	510,639	533,792	1,044,639	1,045,287
Gross profit	174,601	227,238	385,760	432,538
Selling, general, and administrative expenses	95,112	103,945	198,536	205,183
Operating income	79,489	123,293	187,224	227,355
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(8,204)	(8,372)	(16,596)	(16,049)
Other components of net periodic pension cost	(3,367)	(3,450)	(6,763)	(6,969)
Other	2,970	3,397	8,278	2,550
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	(17,309)	(1,307)	(17,309)
Total other income (expense)	(8,601)	(25,734)	(16,388)	(37,777)
Income before taxes	70,888	97,559	170,836	189,578
Income tax expense (benefit)	26,153	(5,703)	50,460	23,771
Net earnings	44,735	103,262	120,376	165,807
Less: net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	258	165	440	344
Net earnings attributable to Vishay stockholders	$ 44,477	$ 103,097	$ 119,936	$ 165,463
Basic earnings per share attributable to Vishay stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.31	$ 0.71	$ 0.83	$ 1.15
Diluted earnings per share attributable to Vishay stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.31	$ 0.65	$ 0.83	$ 1.04
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic (in shares)	144,621	144,382	144,589	144,355
Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted (in shares)	145,023	157,657	145,158	158,580
Cash dividends per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.0950	$ 0.0850	$ 0.1800	$ 0.1525