Israeli immigrants
Israeli immigrants represent a diverse group of individuals who have moved from Israel to various countries, particularly the United States. The state of Israel, established in 1948, has seen significant emigration, including Jews who initially left the U.S. and Europe to settle in Israel, only to return to North America later. Additionally, the immigrant population includes Christian and Muslim Palestinians, complicating the understanding of identity and citizenship among these groups. Over the decades, the number of immigrants from Israel to the U.S. has steadily increased, with significant concentrations found in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Research indicates that Jewish Israelis often possess high levels of education and work in professional fields; many originally sought refuge from political turmoil rather than economic advancement. While many have adapted well to life in the U.S. and speak English fluently, a notable number still identify strongly with their Israeli roots and express a desire to return, although this trend has shifted in recent years towards greater permanence in the U.S. Current geopolitical events continue to influence migration patterns, including fluctuations in emigration and immigration rates in response to ongoing conflicts.
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Israeli immigrants
SIGNIFICANCE: The state of Israel was established only in 1948, and much of its own population growth has come about through Jewish emigration from the United States and Europe. This makes analyses of migration from Israel to the United States uniquely complex. Many ostensible immigrants to the United States from Israel have been Jews who originated in the United States, emigrated to Israel, and later returned to North America. Some of these same returnees have even returned to Israel again. The subject is also complicated by the fact that immigrants to the United States from Israel have included Muslim and Christian Palestinians, who may or may not have been Israeli citizens. Moreover, some Palestinian immigrants who were legally Israeli citizens may not have identified with the Jewish state.
The number of immigrants to the United States whose last country of residence was Israel has grown steadily over the decades. From 1950 to 1959, 21,376 legal migrants from Israel were admitted into the United States. During the 1960s, that figure increased to 30,911, and in the 1980s to 43,669. After a slight dip to 41,340 during the 1990s, a total of 47,873 new immigrants arrived from Israel between 2000 and 2008. Estimates from U.S. 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.
According to the sociologist Steven J. Gold, a widely recognized authority on Israeli immigrants, Jewish Israelis in the United States have shown a number of distinctive characteristics. They have tended to have high levels of education and to work in professional fields, most notably in educational services. According to early twenty-first century U.S. Census figures, about one-quarter of Israeli immigrants have been managers, officials, and proprietors. Other common occupations have been in sales, teaching, and professional and technical jobs. However, most Jewish Israeli immigrants have come to the United States in order to escape political unrest in the Middle East, not to seek improved economic opportunities. Consequently, although they have generally adapted well to American life and generally speak English fluently, a substantial number of them have avoided describing themselves as “Americans” and have expressed a desire eventually to return to Israel. Many continue to speak Israel’s national language, Hebrew, at home. However, as the twenty-first century progressed, there appeared to be a decline in the number of Israeli immigrants hoping to return to Israel as economic opportunities and the ability to practice a more secular form of Judaism made permanent residence in the United States more attractive.
Jewish Israelis live throughout the United States, but they are most heavily concentrated in New York City and Los Angeles. These two cities alone contain about half of all Jewish Israelis living in the United States. Other popular destinations for many Israeli immigrants have included Michigan, Florida, and Illinois. Israeli immigrants are frequently drawn to large established Jewish neighborhoods, such as Brooklyn and Queens in New York City and West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley in the Los Angeles area.
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 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.
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