Israeli Americans

SIGNIFICANCE: Israeli Americans are immigrants from the Middle Eastern state of Israel, founded in 1948. They are an ethnically and religiously diverse group. The term “Israeli Americans,” however, most often refers to Israeli Jews, both the Ashkenazim of Central and Eastern European heritage and the Sephardim of Iberian, Middle Eastern, and North African origins. As Jews, their religious observance ranges from a secular orientation to an orthodox one. Israeli Americans can also be of Palestinian descent. Estimates from US Census data indicate that the number of people born in Israel, or Palestine, in the United States grew from 94,500 in 1990 to 123,000 in 2000 and reached 154,000 in 2007. According to the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey one-year estimates for 2021, there were 150,159 people of Israeli descent and 160,088 people of Palestinian descent living in the United States that year. 

Constituting only about 1 percent of the US immigrant population, Israeli immigrants often perceive themselves to be sojourners, temporary residents of the host country. They maintain social, cultural, and economic ties to their country of origin, even while living abroad. Some retain dual citizenship. With the aid of technology and the global economy, their lifestyles seem to fit the new trend of transnationalism (allegiances and orientations that go beyond the boundaries of a single nation). Rather than forsake their homelands and become completely assimilated, new immigrants actively participate in both social worlds.  

Rates of Immigration

Israeli immigration rates vary depending on how the term “Israeli” is defined and whether only legal immigrants are counted. At the time of the 1990 US census, approximately 90,000 Israelis lived in the United States; by 2010, it was nearly 140,000. Most Israeli Americans settled in metropolitan areas, especially Los Angeles, New York City, Queens, and Brooklyn. Certain immigration trends are evident. Israeli immigration was especially pronounced during the 1970s, especially after 1975, when, as 1990 census figures reveal, rates of Israelis traveling to Los Angeles alone more than doubled from 8 percent (1970-1974) to 17 percent (1975-1979). Some have suggested the growth is due in part to increases following war, in this case, the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Third, in response to changing Israeli policy toward emigrants and economic conditions in Israel, the number of Israelis returning to Israel has risen during the 1990s. According to Israeli government estimates, the average yearly number rose from about 5,500 during 1985-1991 to nearly 10,500 during 1992-1994. 

The October 7 Effect

On October 7, 2023, Hamas, an internationally recognized terror group, launched a surprise attack on Israeli settlers. Staging from underground tunnels in the Palestinian area of Gaza, Hamas fighters killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis, the majority of them civilians, and took 251 hostages. Israel responded with an air and ground offensive in Gaza that many critics described as disproportionately and inhumanely targeting Gaza's civilians. After a year of fighting, Israeli forces killed over 40,000 Palestinian civilians. The fighting in Gaza impacted emigration into Israel as well as immigration out of the country. In 2023, media reporting soon after October 7 noted an almost 150% increase in seeking to emigrate to Israel from France and an 81% uptick from the United States. This reversed a trend in 2023 where the number of emigration applicants to Israel from Western countries had declined. The number of emigrants from Russia, embroiled in a war with Ukraine, was a notable exception. Nine months following October 7, Israel experienced a 285 percent increase in citizens departing the country compared with the same period the previous year. The number of Israelis returning to the country had decreased as well.  

Motives for Emigration

In contrast to previous Jewish immigrants, contemporary Israelis are not “pushed” to emigrate to the United States because of persecution or extreme economic hardship. Rather, the decision to emigrate is primarily motivated by “pull” factors. Many Israelis cite personal development, particularly greater educational and economic opportunity, as most important. They seek professional advancement, as well as a higher income and standard of living. Others desire to reunite with family members already in the United States or leave to fulfill a personal need for adventure and escape from the limited confines, both geographically and socially, of Israel. Some engage in chain migration, being assisted by Israelis who have already made the trip. Travel, especially among those completing required military service, often leads to extended stays. 

Certain features of Israeli society may be “push” factors: high inflation, bureaucratic red tape, burdensome taxes, housing shortages, the difficulty in developing capitalistic enterprises, and government regulations that intrude into personal life. As part of a country prone to societal violence and war, Israelis may mention the need to escape the siege mentality and the tensions permeating society, as well as reserve army duty. Interethnic tensions motivate some to flee from perceived discrimination waged by upper-class Ashkenazim against those of lower status. 

Relations with the American Jewish Community

Israelis were not initially welcomed with open arms by the American Jewish community. Relations between the two groups have been strained because of historical and cultural factors. Historically, the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 realized the Zionist dream of a Jewish homeland. To emigrate to Israel, or to make Aliyah (“ascent”), was a firm demonstration of loyalty to the Zionist cause. To immigrate from Israel and return to the Jewish diaspora, however, has pejoratively been referred to as Yerida (“descent”). Hence, Olim, “those who go up” to Israel, are admired, in contrast to Yordim, “those who go down,” who are disparaged for emigrating. Israeli Americans accept this stigmatized identity, often expressing guilt and shame for leaving. 

In classifying Israeli immigrants as Yordim, American Jews were following the lead of Israelis. In 1976, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin himself referred to Yordim as “the leftovers of weaklings.” Israeli emigration, coupled with rising Arab birthrates, is perceived as a threat to the future of the Jewish homeland. Israeli Americans, on the other hand, are often alienated from American Jews, who, in their minds, have offered only monetary contributions, rather than real sacrifice, for Israel. American Jews often condemn Yordim, yet many would never consider emigrating to Israel themselves. 

Culturally, a gap exists between Israeli Americans and American Jews. They eat distinct foods and have different lifestyles, political ideologies, and entertainment preferences. Their language also differs; Israelis speak Hebrew as their primary language. Many Israeli Americans also follow the culture of their country of origin, be it Yemenite, Ethiopian, or Russian. An improved relationship between Israeli Americans and American Jews has been prompted by shifts in official Israeli policy toward Yordim enacted during the mid-1980s. In an effort to promote the return of Israeli Americans, the Israeli government softened its position regarding emigration and offered enticements such as employment, housing assistance, and travel loans. At the same time, a number of American Jewish organizations initiated outreach programs for Israeli Americans. Previously, such organizations provided little, if any, assistance in an effort to discourage Israelis from staying in America. 

The Sojourner Mentality and Self-Identity

Stemming from the negative stereotype of Yordim, Israeli Americans label themselves sojourners, insisting, in the face of perhaps contrary evidence, that their stay in the United States is temporary. Lower-status Israelis frequently become settlers, integrating into the host country. Higher-status Israelis often become permanent sojourners; they intend to return to Israel but have no serious plans to do so. As permanent sojourners, they practiced what Natan Uriely, in a 1994 article in International Society, has termed rhetorical ethnicity. Their identity is rooted in their ethnicity, and they have a strong symbolic commitment to Israel. This is evident in their repeated desires to go home. Israelis resist identifying themselves as Americans or Israeli Americans, preferring an Israeli identity. Many never fully assimilate. 

Demographic Profile

Steven J. Gold and Bruce A. Phillips, in the American Jewish Yearbook (1996), have provided a demographic profile of Israeli Americans. According to their report (and at the time of their report), Israelis were young, most under age forty-five, and more likely to be male, married, and relatively well educated. They had high rates of employment and earned substantial income that was generally higher than that of the average foreign-born person. Many were employed as managers, administrators, professionals, or technical specialists. Some were engaged in sales, and a significant number (second only to Koreans in America) were self-employed in industries such as real estate, jewelry and diamonds, retail sales, and construction. Women had less labor force participation in the United States than in Israel, perhaps indicative of their rising social status in the United States. 

Social Life in the United States

Israelis tend to socialize with each other, often in ethnic nightclubs, at communal singing sessions, or at ethnic celebrations such as Israeli Independence Day. A few belong to ethnic organizations such as Tzofim, an Israeli group similar to the Boy Scouts. Some form ethnic subgroups based on their country of origin. Friends frequently substitute for family and are invited to holiday observances or children’s bar/bat mitzvahs. Many Israelis consider themselves to be secular Jews, linking religious observance with being Israeli rather than Jewish. However, many do participate in religious activities in the United States, by joining synagogues at a slightly higher rate than American Jews, providing their children with religious educations, and engaging in religious rituals to a greater extent in the United States than in Israel. Some of the Sephardim have found the orthodox Hasidic movement appealing. Perhaps this increased religiosity is a reaction to the transition from being a religious majority in Israel to being a religious minority in the United States. 

Bibliography

Dowd, Alan. "Why America Cares about Israel’s Security." American Legion, 12 Dec. 2023, www.legion.org/landingzone/260767/why-america-cares-about-israel’s-security. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.

Elizur, Dov. “Israelis in the US: Motives, Attitudes, and Intentions.” American Jewish Yearbook. vol. 80, 1979, pp. 53–70.

Gold, Steven J., and Bruce A. Phillips. “Israelis in the United States.” American Jewish Yearbook, vol. 96, 1996, pp. 51–101.

"Israelis Leaving Country Permanently Spiked 285% after Oct. 7 but Stabilized Since — Data." The Times of Israel, 18 July 2024, www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog‗entry/israelis-leaving-country-permanently-spiked-285-after-oct-7-but-stabilized-since-data. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.

Kass, Drora, and Seymour Martin Lipset. “Jewish Immigration to the United States from 1967 to the Present: Israelis and Others.” Understanding American Jewry. Marshall Sklare, editor. Transaction Books, 1982.

Lev Ari, Lilach. “Israelis in the United States.” The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism, 2015, pp. 1–3, doi:10.1002/9781118663202.wberen080. Accessed 23 June 2017.

Shokeid, Moshe. Children of Circumstances: Israeli Immigrants in New York. Cornell University Press, 1988.

Sobel, Zvi. Migrants from the Promised Land. Transaction Books, 1986.

Yaron, Lee. "The October 7 Effect: The Israelis Leaving Israel, and the Diaspora Jews Replacing Them." Haaretz, 6 Sept. 2024, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-09-06/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-october-7-effect-the-israelis-leaving-israel-and-the-diaspora-jews-replacing-them/00000191-b6b7-d13c-a39b-bebff9830000. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.

Uriely, Natan. “Rhetorical Ethnicity of Permanent Sojourners: The Case of Israeli Immigrants in the Chicago Area.” International Sociology, vol. 9, 1994.