Migration, Ethnonationalist Destinations and Social Divisions: Non-Jewish Immigrants in Israel

Abstract

Immigrants in ethnonationalist destinations who lack shared ethnicity with natives typically encounter difficulties of integration. But analysis of non-Jewish immigrants in Israel shows that lacking shared ethnicity is not an insurmountable obstacle, even in strongly ethnonationalist destinations. Non-Jewish immigrants—including migrant workers—have achieved a degree of membership in Israeli society. Moreover, their presence has exacerbated certain divisions among Jewish Israelis. Even in ethnonationalist destinations, then, the immigration of non-co-ethnics does not result only/inevitably in divisions between immigrants and natives: it can also divide natives, while some immigrants and natives find a measure of common ground.