The Russians in Israel
This book constitutes the first systematic and critical discussion of questions of immigration and society in Israel from a global perspective.
The comprehensive study covers the 30-year period since the beginning of the immigrant influx from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s and incorporates data based on a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It provides an important opportunity to examine identity and patterns of adaptation among immigrants, with the added perspective afforded by the passage of time. Moreover, it sheds light on the Russians cumulative influence on Israeli society and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Considering all groups within Israeli society, it covers Palestinian-Arab citizens in Israel, who have almost never been included in analyses addressing questions of Jewish immigration to Israel. Multiculturalism is the central theoretical framework of this study, alongside specific theoretical considerations of ethnic formation, political mobilization among ethnic groups, and immigration and conflict in deeply divided societies. However, while Jewish-Arab relations in Israel are typically analyzed in the context of majority-minority relations, this book offers a pioneering approach that analyzes these relations within the context of a Jewish majority with a minority phobia and an Arab minority with a sense of regional majority.
Addressing existing and anticipated influences of Russian immigrants on politics, culture, and social structures in Israel, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Russians in Israel will be useful to students and scholars of Middle Eastern politics and society, as well as Israel, Russian, and Ethnicity Studies.
Majid Ibrahim Al-Haj is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology and the founding director of the Center for Multiculturalism at the University of Haifa, Israel. He is the author of Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society: The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the FSU in Israel (2004).
Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Series Editor: Mick Dumper, University of Exeter
The Arab-Israeli conflict continues to be the centre of academic and popular attention. This series brings together the best of the cutting edge work now being undertaken by predominantly new and young scholars. Although largely falling within the field of political science the series also includes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary contributions.
22 Palestinian Political Discourse
Between Exile and Occupation
Emile Badarin
23 Islamic Development in Palestine
A Comparative Study
Stephen Royle
24 The History and Politics of the Bedouin
Reimagining Nomadism in Modern Palestine
Seraj Assi
25 Palestinian Popular Struggle
Unarmed and Participatory
Michael J. Carpenter
26 Israel in the Post Oslo Era
Prospects for Conflict and Reconciliation with the Palestinians
Asad Ghanem, Mohanad Mostafa, Salim Brake
27 The Russians in Israel
A New Ethnic Group in a Tribal Society
Majid Ibrahim Al-Haj
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/middleeaststudies/series/SEAIC
First published 2019
by Routledge
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2019 Majid Ibrahim Al-Haj
The right of Majid Ibrahim Al-Haj to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Al Haj, Majid, author.
Title: The Russians in Israel: a new ethnic group in a tribal society / Majid Al-Haj.
Description: First edition. | New York: Routledge, [2019] | Series: Routledge studies on the Arab-Israeli conflict; 277 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018045619 | ISBN 9781138494787 (hardback) | ISBN 9781351025706 (ebook) | ISBN 9781351025683 (epub) | ISBN 9781351025676 (mobipocket)
Subjects: LCSH: MulticulturalismIsrael. | IsraelEthnic relations. | IsraelEmigration and immigration. | Former Soviet RepublicsEmigration and immigration. | RussiaEmigration and immigration. | Jews, RussianIsraelidentity. | Jews, SovietIsraelidentity. | Palestinian ArabsIsraelSocial conditions. | Arab-Israeli conflict. | MinoritiesIsrael.
Classification: LCC HM1271 .A3825 2019 | DDC 305.80095694dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018045619
ISBN: 978-1-138-49478-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-02570-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
I am indebted to many people for their help and encouragement while this book was in the making. First and foremost, I wish to thank my wife and my children. Without their unfailing support, understanding, and constant encouragement, this book would not have been possible. The inimitable way in which they helped me maintain a sane balance between my academic activities and my family life has been an inspiration throughout.
My thanks furthermore go to the ZEIT Foundation for its generous support of the research project titled The Continuing Survey on Multiculturalism in Israel that was conducted through the Center for Multiculturalism and Educational Research at the University of Haifa. Much of this book is based on the surveys conducted in 1999 and in 2010 and the discussion groups conducted in 2018, all under the auspices of this research project. Special thanks are due to Prof. Dr. Manfred Lahnstein and Prof. Dr. Michael Goring for their friendship, commitment, and continuing support.
The research team invested great efforts in the various stages of the fieldwork, the data processing, and the writing of this book. The fieldwork for the 1999 survey was conducted by the Geocartography Institute. I am grateful to Prof. Avi Degani and Dr. Rina Degani, its directors, for their cooperation and professional work. Special thanks are also due to Dr. Mina Zemach, director of the Dahaf Institute, for her diligent and professional work in carrying out the fieldwork for the 2010 immigrant survey and the 2010 survey of the general population. Special thanks go to Prof. Elazar Leshem, my partner in the 1999 survey, and Dr. Olena Bagno, my partner in the 2010 survey. My numerous discussions with both of them enabled me to see the whole picture of immigration and ethnicity in Israel from different perspectives. Ms. Julia Bershadsky worked on the various stages of the study, including the discussion groups, Mr. Evgeny Saburov worked as a research assistant, and Mr. Roni Polansky helped in the data processing. I extend my thanks to them for their efficient and devoted work. Thanks to Ms. Beverly Katz and Ms. Donna Bossin, who I found to be most congenial editors.
