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The potentiality of converting capitals in new national fields following migration has been the focus of a number of studies. Another, much smaller, literature examines experiences of return migration. In this paper, we follow 15 Israeli families (where both mothers and children have been interviewed) who have been globally mobile for professional reasons. We examine cultural capital accumulation strategies for the children and how these facilitate the occupation of advantageous social positions while abroad. Having returned to Israel, partly due to the COVID pandemic, the national cultural capital the families have so actively cultivated in their children is evaluated as not authentic enough. Meanwhile, the cosmopolitan cultural capital that has been so valorised abroad, is not recognised as something the children can draw on to position themselves either. The paper contributes to the study of return migration, with a unique focus on globally mobile families returning ‘home’. We also examine how national cultural capital is conceived and differentially assessed as families move from a more transnational space to that of their home country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholars have long studied the relationship between nationalist beliefs and anti-immigrant attitudes, such work has proceeded largely independently from research on collective memory, which explores how nationalist narratives are created, maintained, and contested. In this paper, we bring these literatures together by asking how, at the individual level, receptivity to salient narratives about the nation's past is associated with dispositions toward immigrants and immigration policy. Specifically, we focus on two narratives common in a number of contemporary democracies that frame the nation as having been perpetually victimised over its history (i.e. the victimhood narrative) and as having been chosen to carry out a special mission in the world (i.e. the exceptionalism narrative). Using original data from Israel, we demonstrate that stronger agreement with these narratives, and particularly with exceptionalism, is associated with greater propensity to hold anti-immigrant views. Our analyses reveal that this relationship is mediated by ethnic conceptions of the nation's symbolic boundaries and, to a lesser degree, by perceived symbolic and material threats to the nation-state. Building on recent comparative work, we argue that in nations with a history of precarious sovereignty, victimhood and exceptionalism narratives can provide a fertile basis for the exclusionary appeals of radical-right political actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the multifaceted quality of ethnicity in the Jewish population of Israel by probing into the ethnic categories and their subjective meaning. The analyses utilise data collected during 2015–2016 on a representative sample of Israelis age 15 and older, as part of the seventh and eighth rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS). Hypotheses are developed concerning the relationship between demographically based ethnic origin and national identity, as well as the effect of ethnically mixed marriages on ethnic and national identities. The analyses reveal a strong preference among Jews in Israel to portray their ancestry in inclusive national categories – Israeli and Jewish – rather than more particularistic, ethno-cultural, categories (e.g. Mizrahim, Moroccan, Ashkenazim, Polish, etc). Yet, whether Israeli or Jewish receives primacy differs by migration generation, socioeconomic standing, religion, and political dispositions. While the findings clearly add to our understanding of Israeli society, they are also telling with regard to immigrant societies more generally. First, they reveal a multi-layered structure of ethnic identification. Second, they suggest that ethnic identities are quite resistant to change. Third, ethnically mixed marriages appear to erode ethnic identities and are likely to replace them with national identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-assisted return programmes (SARPs) have emerged as key components of diaspora mobilisation strategies in countries of origin. Especially in countries where the principle of jus sanguinis underpins citizenship regimes, these programmes have often been drawn from ostensibly national(istic) discourses in order to encourage the repatriation of (mostly highly skilled) citizens residing abroad. Drawing on interviews with public officials and migrants as well as content analysis of primary and secondary materials, this paper examines SARPs deployed by Israel and Germany. It argues that while the discourse and practice within which state programmes are embedded (re-)construct the nation in certain ways that are commensurate with perceived determinants of return, migrants have often rejected these formulations, underscoring instead a range of neglected personal and professional return-oriented risks. The paper's main contribution lies in better clarifying the links between highly skilled return migration policy, national identity and migration determinants and uncovers the diverging articulations of return used by state and migrants alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the representation of two major minorities in Israel, Arab citizens of Israel and Jewish immigrants, by focusing on the widely popular genre of reality shows. We demonstrate that this genre contains sophisticated mechanisms of differentiation and selection that inevitably exclude and stigmatise minority participants. To demonstrate this thesis the paper takes a close look at two Israeli reality shows that were conceived to have a public value—Wanted: A Leader and The Ambassador. The examination of these shows reveals how Israeliness—presented as the space of equal opportunity—contains discriminatory mechanisms based on national and ethnic affiliations. Thus, the study illustrates that national identity could be utilised as a meta-narrative of universality and inclusiveness, but actually refers to a particular type of identity that is ethnically restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on an ethnographic study of Russian-speaking queer immigrants in Israel and, in particular, on their organising against homophobia. The paper follows the queer immigrants' claims that the homophobic attacks they experience are similar to anti-Semitism and the persecution of Jews by the Nazis. Engaging with Freud's notion of the double as uncanny, I trace the relations of doubleness and substitution between two figures: the humiliated homosexual and the persecuted Jew. What does it mean, I ask, that injuries of homophobia are compared to injuries of anti-Semitism? What does it mean that Jewish immigrants in Israel claim that they are persecuted 'just like the Jews'? Throughout the paper I explore questions of migration and sexuality, as well as issues of Israeli nationalism and the currency of victimhood in claims for national belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the process of linguistic assimilation among post-1990 immigrants arriving in Israel under the Law of Return. We analyse levels of Hebrew proficiency among four immigrant groups (Ethiopia, Former Soviet Union [FSU], Middle Eastern and North African countries [MENA]) and countries in Europe and America [EUAM]) and by language of origin (Amharic, Russian, Spanish, English and French). The analysis is based on a data-set collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics: the post-1990 Immigrant Survey. Controlling for all relevant factors, the data reveal substantial differences across origin groups: immigrants of MENA and EUAM countries have higher probabilities of reporting the highest level of command of the language than their FSU and Ethiopian counterparts. Speakers of Spanish and French attain higher levels of Hebrew proficiency than speakers of Russian, English and Amharic. Apparently, the very existence of a large and residentially concentrated ethnic or linguistic community (as is the case for Ethiopian and FSU immigrants) becomes a potential disincentive for improving their Hebrew skills. The fact that English is a lingua franca understood and prized in Israel explains the slow process of English speakers' language acquisition. The findings are discussed in light of existing theories of linguistic assimilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the economic integration of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union into the Israeli labour market in terms of occupational and earnings mobility (i.e. decreasing occupational and earnings disparities) in comparison with several Israeli Jewish sub-populations. Using data from annual Income Surveys conducted by the Israel Bureau of Statistics between the years 1995 and 2006, we find little occupational and earnings mobility of Soviet immigrants throughout the period and substantial occupational and earnings disadvantages compared to all Jewish sub-populations (especially when compared to Jews of European/American origin). The findings are discussed in light of the assimilation model, suggesting that the social and economic circumstances associated with the arrival of Soviet immigrants in Israel have long-lasting, detrimental consequences for their economic assimilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a second round of interviews conducted with students in an integrated bilingual (Arabic-Hebrew) Palestinian-Jewish school and with similar-age students in standard monolingual schools in Israel. Our research looks at the potential influence of integrated bilingual education on national and/or ethnic identities and perceptions of intergroup relations and conflict. The interviews demonstrate the children's perceptions of ethnic and/or national identities as these are shaped through school interactions and within larger communal contexts, and provide insight into how these children envision the conflict and their present and future relations with the 'other'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I consider the applicability of liberal, ethno-national and post-national perspectives of citizenship to the concept of membership in Israeli society. I examine attitudes of Jews regarding the allocation of social rights to new immigrants arriving under the Law of Return, Israeli Arabs, and labour migrants. Analysis shows that the framework that guides access to the goods of citizenship displays a hierarchical mode that reflects two main membership discourses. The first is the liberal discourse, which differentiates between citizens (Jewish immigrants and Arabs) and non-citizens (labour migrants) in entitlement to rights. The second is the ethno-national discourse which discriminates between Jewish and Arab citizens. Although the distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens is evident, the impact of 'citizenship status' on discriminatory attitudes to out-group members is stronger than the impact of 'ethnic origin' (i.e. Arab) migrants in Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the core values of three minority groups in Israeli society: Israeli Arabs, immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and immigrants from Ethiopia. Analysis of memoirs collected from members of these three groups reveals that language functions as a core value in all of them, but on different grounds. Israeli Arabs focus on language as representing their national identity and their objection to the hegemony of Hebrew; immigrants from the FSU emphasise language in terms of literacy and as paving the way to the treasures of their culture; and participants from the Ethiopian group focus on language as a means of communication, allowing them to maintain values they consider more central—family relations and respect for their elders. The discussion of the findings takes into account the uniqueness of the Israeli context and combines socio-cultural and linguistic perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilingual, bi-national schools in Israel aim to educate, together, children from linguistically and culturally diverse Arab and Jewish backgrounds. They reflect an ideological commitment to a more peaceful society and are based on the theoretical premises of the contact hypothesis. In its earliest manifestation, contact theory identified conditions under which inter-group contact was likely to improve negative social attitudes. More recently, and as a consequence of various critical analyses, the theory has evolved to focus more on process or intervening variables during contact, and wider contextual factors that can facilitate or impede the development of better relations. Based on qualitative research in two bilingual/bi-national schools in Israel, this paper examines the nature of the contact experienced by Arabs and Jews in the schools, as well as some of the contextual and process variables that seemingly mediate the quality, and moderate the effectiveness of the inter-group setting. It argues that, whilst commitment to school objectives and mechanisms for delivery are variables that seemingly affect responses to the out-group in the school, relationships between Arabs and Jews in the wider society present a potentially countervailing force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the potential and actual impacts of the 1990s immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) on the state of multiculturalism, peace orientation and civil society in Israel. It examines the attitudes of these immigrants toward the character of Israel and their location in its cultural fabric. At the same time, it explores their stand toward the indigenous Palestinian Arab citizens and the prospects of creating an all-encompassing civil culture. The analysis shows that immigrants are tending toward the expansion of pluralism and the secularisation of Israel, and a redefinition of the legitimate borders of Israeli society. However, this orientation is not based on a holistic perspective. It is, rather, aimed at serving the needs of the immigrants themselves and facilitating their integration into the existing ethno-national structure from an advantaged position. Therefore, they are expected to reinforce a system of exclusion that places the indigenous Arab population beyond the pale. In this sense, the FSU immigrants are leading toward a type of multiculturalism that may be termed 'ethnocratic multiculturalism'. This type differs from types of multiculturalism that have developed in Western democratic countries by being selective: it draws the borders of legitimacy according to an exclusive ethno-national basis, rather than on the basis of inclusive values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on integrated analysis of Israeli statistics and social research (including a 2001 survey among 800 Russian Israelis), this article explores the birth of a transnational community of Russian Jews living in Israel and in other branches of the post-Soviet diaspora. The theoretical focus of the paper is the relationship between transnationalism and immigrant integration in the host country. It is shown that, due to its timing and composition, the Russian immigration of the 1990s was transnational at the outset. Transnational activities among Russian Israelis lie mainly in the socio-cultural realm and are intertwined with cultural separatism from the host society. During the 1990s, Russian-speakers, making 20 per cent of the Jewish population in Israel, have created a thriving subculture of their own. It is shown that reliance on co-ethnic networks plays a double role in the life of Israeli Russians. On the one hand, it empowers the weakest and the least integrated segments of the Russian community, attenuating their dependency on the host society. Yet, at the same time, it hampers economic success and social integration of many other immigrants, and reinforces cultural conflict between the newcomers and old-timers in Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]