Local immigrant policies in Israel: the paradox of autonomy

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article unpacks the making of immigrant policies in ordinary cities from the point of view of the various actors involved in it. Based on ethnographic work conducted in Israeli cities located away from the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem axis, yet involved since the establishment of the State of Israel in the welcoming of Jewish immigrants, it focuses on the actors’ intentions and actions producing new scalar arrangements for the purpose of newcomers’ settlement. Data gathered during observations, participation in activities and encounters with key actors were mobilized to produce abstract visualization of social networks. These visuals and their analysis inform the rescaling of immigrant policies, and of statehood: far from gaining autonomy and forming policies that are disengaging from national policies, actors in these peripheral cities are still dependent on the central administration to carry out their activities, limiting the possibility to produce alternative immigrant integration paths.