A Web of Repatriation: The Changing Politics of Israel's Diaspora Strategy

Abstract

Nir Cohen*Department of Geography and Environment, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelABSTRACTDiaspora strategies were explained against thebackdrop of neoliberal reforms, within whichcontext governments in sending countriessought to mobilise skilled migrants forhomeland development projects. Despitesporadic evidence that non-governmentalorganisations take increasingly meaningfulparts in diaspora strategy-formation processes,little attention has thus far been paid to theirspecific roles. This paper attends to the salientcontribution of non-governmental organisationsto Israel’s diaspora strategy. Focusing on tworecent state-assisted return programs, it arguesthat a greater involvement of private and civicorganisations should be seen as part of broaderpolitical-economicshifts, most notably economicneoliberalisation. Since the late 1980s, organisa-tions have partnered with the state to create a tri-sectoral‘webofrepatriation’,whichiseffectivelyresponsible for the creation and implementationof return programmes. Through a critical analysisof the discourse within, and practices deployedby, this new web, the paper illustrates thechangingpoliticsofreturninIsrael.Specifically,itshows how partners have advanced a greaterprofessional segmentation of (potential) re-turnees,prioritisedthosebestsuitedfortheneedsof a small number of ‘economic growth engines’,and institutionalised merit-based compensationschemes. Despite their different positions andsituated knowledge, both state and non-statebodies have been using similar trajectories,calling for greater privatisation, harsherselectivity, and differential rewards in Israel ’sdiaspora strategy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.