Israel's ethnic divides: North American Jewish perspectives, 1948-1973

• In Event: Multilayered Israel-Diaspora Relations: a Sephardi-Mizrahi Lens

Abstract

Israel's establishment coincided with the dispersal of hundreds of thousands of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, many of whom arrived in Israel. While rejoicing at what was perceived as a modern-day 'ingathering of the exiles,' concerns from Levantinization quickly surfaced as some feared that Israel's unexpected demographic changes might jeopardize the Zionist vision for the building of a democratic, modern Jewish homeland. The newly rising Jewish society in Israel quickly divided into two main categories – Ashkenazi and 'Oriental' Jews, respectively – Israelis and newcomers, Westerners, and non-Westerners. Israel's so-called 'Oriental Jews' merged otherwise different diasporas and identities. Examining this process through the diasporic lens of American Jews, I suggest their perspectives can illuminate the formation of Israel's ethnic divides and the effect on homeland-diaspora relations.

While East and West were often described as binary categories, I propose to consider it a spectrum and present the imagined and real sub-categorizations of Jews from Muslim countries on it. Focusing on the Jewish American press coverage of Israel's so-called' newcomers, I suggest Israel's Sephardic Jewish community as presenting hybrid identities, integrated both in Europe and the Middle East. Sephardi Jews appeared to comprise diasporic networks, running alongside, and at times undermining otherwise accepted homeland-diaspora hierarchies.

Author

• Tamar Gibli, Ben Gurion University of the Negev