R. Israel Jacob Burla (d. 1798) is mentioned in 1770 as one of the seven leading scholars who headed the Jerusalem community. He was a member of the bet din of R. Yom Tov Algazi, and later av bet din. In 1774, a year after the invasion of Erez Israel by the armies of Ali Bey, ruler of Egypt, he and R. Yakar b. Abraham Gershon Kitover traveled to Europe as emissaries, to acquaint the communities there with the misfortunes of the Jerusalem community and to enlist their aid. His letter of appointment, printed in Portuguese in Amsterdam, 1776, contains an account of important historical events. His plan for a system of taxation, written at the request of the communal leaders of Siena, during his stay there in 1777, was published in Italian in a pamphlet entitled Legge del Zorkhei Zibbur (Florence, 1778). In 1782 Israel was back in Jerusalem, where he remained for the rest of his life. His responsa, Mekor Yisrael (1882), were published by his great-grandson, R. Joseph Nissim Burla, together with the responsa, Nahalat Ye'udah, of his son, R. Judah Burla.

דף [,1, ב - 2, ב]: הקדמת ר' יוסף נסים בורלא. תשובותיהם של שני המחברים נדפסו בערבוביה. עם הסכמת ר' רפאל מאיר פאניזיל, ירושלם, תמוז תרמ"ב.