Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society: The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel Majid Al-Haj Brill ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page i IMMIGRATION AND ETHNIC FORMATION IN A DEEPLY DIVIDED SOCIETY ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page ii INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY edited by Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, Rubin Patterson and Masamichi Sasaki VOLUME XCI ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page iii IMMIGRATION AND ETHNIC FORMATION IN A DEEPLY DIVIDED SOCIETY The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel BY MAJID AL-HAJ BRILL LEIDEN •BOSTON 2004 ISSA-91-al-haj.qxd 10/24/2003 2:45 PM Page iv This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Al-Haj, Majid. Immigration and ethnic formation in a deeply divided society : the case of the 1990’s immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel / by Majid Al-Haj. p. cm. — (International studies in sociology and social anthropology, ISSN 0074-8684 ; v. 91) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-13625-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Jews, Soviet—Israel—Social conditions. 2. Israel—Ethnic relations. 3. Israel—Emigration and immigration. 4. Immigrants—Israel. 5. Social adjustment—Israel. 6. Social surveys—Israel. I. Title. II. Series. DS113.8.R87A42 2003 305.892’4047—dc22 2003055866 ISSN 0074-8684 ISBN 90 04 13625 8 © Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, U.S.A. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/17/03 2:37 PM Page v v To my wife, Ibtisam, and my children, Ibrahim, Hassan, Moa’taz and Nadine AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/17/03 2:37 PM Page vi vi This page intentionally left blank AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/17/03 2:37 PM Page vii vii CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................. xi List of Figures ............................................................................ xv Acknowledgments ........................................................................ xvii Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel ........ 1 Methodology ............................................................................ 6 Immigrants’ Survey ................................................................ 6 Survey of the General Population ........................................ 9 Students’ Survey .................................................................... 9 Focus Groups .......................................................................... 10 Chapter One. Theoretical Framework .................................... 13 Definitions of “Ethnic Group” .............................................. 14 Immigration and Ethnic Formation ...................................... 17 Ethnic Mobilization ................................................................ 26 The Reactive Perspective .................................................. 27 The Competitive Model of Ethnic Mobilization ............ 29 Criticism of the Reactive and Competitive Approaches ...................................................................... 30 Rational Choice Theory .................................................... 30 The Role of the State ........................................................ 31 Chapter Two. Israeli Society: A Background .......................... 35 Immigration and the Construction of Social Boundaries .......................................................................... 35 Unique vs. Typical Immigration ...................................... 37 An Ideological Value or a Means to Achieve Political Goals ................................................................ 38 Immigration and Ethnic Formation in Israel ...................... 41 Background of Jewish Ethnicity ........................................ 41 Ethnic Composition over Time ........................................ 42 Ethnicity as a Socio-Cultural Rift .................................... 43 The Modernization-Establishment Approach .................. 44 The Melting Pot Ideology ................................................ 45 Counter-approaches to Ethnic Relations .......................... 49 AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/23/03 4:50 PM Page viii viii  Ethnic mobilization ............................................................ 52 Ethnicity and the Religious-Nonreligious Divide ............ 54 The Jewish-Arab Divide ........................................................ 58 Background .......................................................................... 58 Policy toward the Palestinians in Israel ............................ 59 Social Change .................................................................... 60 Economic Deterritorialization ............................................ 62 Political Territorialization .................................................. 64 Cultural Territorialization without Cultural Autonomy ...... 66 Multiculturalism vs. Sectarian Identities in Israeli Society .................................................................................. 67 Chapter Three. Jews of Russia and the Former Soviet Union: Background and Waves of Immigration .................. 72 Emigration by Russian/Soviet/FSU Jews ............................ 76 The First Waves to Palestine ............................................ 76 Immigrants from the Soviet Union in the 1970s ............ 78 Ethiopia: A New Reservoir of Immigrants .......................... 79 Aspirations for Aliya from the West .................................... 81 The 1990s Wave .................................................................... 83 Main Trends ...................................................................... 84 Differences between the 1970s and the 1990s Waves ........ 86 Chapter Four. Identity Patterns and Ethnic Formation ........ 91 Communal Ethnic Organizations .......................................... 93 Sources of Information, Russian-Language Media .............. 95 Motivation for Migration and Connection with the Home Country .................................................................... 100 Self-Identification .................................................................... 101 Non-Jewish Immigrants .......................................................... 102 The Other-Definition: How Veteran Israelis Perceive the Immigrants .................................................... 109 Chapter Five. Attitudes toward Civil Society and Freedom of Expression .......................................................... 116 Character of Israel ................................................................ 116 Attitudes toward Peace .......................................................... 120 Freedom of Expression .......................................................... 123 Communication Environments .......................................... 123 Permissiveness ...................................................................... 126 The Ranking of Rights ...................................................... 129 AL-HAJ_f1_v-xviii 10/23/03 4:50 PM Page ix  ix Chapter Six. Political Organization .......................................... 134 Voting Behavior at the National Elections .......................... 137 Collective vs. Individual Factors behind the Voting Patterns ................................................................................ 140 Factors behind the Voting for Prime Minister .................... 144 The Elections of 2003 ............................................................ 145 Local Elections ........................................................................ 148 Chapter Seven. Immigrants versus Israeli Society .................. 154 Adjustment Patterns ................................................................ 154 Residential Adjustment ...................................................... 155 Economic Adjustment ........................................................ 161 Social Adjustment .............................................................. 162 Mutual Influence .................................................................... 166 Immigrants’ Social Distance from other Groups in Israel .............................................................................. 169 Social Distance from Arabs .................................................. 171 Social Distance from other Jewish Groups .......................... 178 Chapter Eight. Attitudes of Veteran Groups toward Immigrants .............................................................................. 181 Attitudes in the Early 1990s .................................................. 181 Jewish Leadership .............................................................. 181 Jewish Public ...................................................................... 183 Arab Leadership ................................................................ 186 Arab Public ........................................................................ 188 Trends over Time: A Decade Later .................................... 189 Internal Divisions within Jewish Population ........................ 194 Tolerance of Separate Immigrant Organizations ................ 196 Social Distance ........................................................................ 197 The Attitudes of the Younger Generation .......................... 199 Social Distance as Felt by the Younger Generation .......... 200 Concluding Remarks .................................................................. 205 Bibliography ................................................................................ 221 Index ............................................................................................ 239