Kislev, Elyakim. “The Transnational Effect of Multicultural Policies on Migrants’ Identification: The Case of the Israeli Diaspora in the USA.” Global Networks 15.1 (2015): 118-39.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/glob.12043
Abstract
While it is difficult to gauge the effect of multicultural policies within countries, it is even more difficult to measure them across countries. In this article, I use fundamental multicultural changes that have occurred in Israeli society in recent decades as a case study, and track their effect on how Israelis who reside in the USA identify with Israel. Analysing the US census and the American Community Survey, I have focused my research on three groups of Israeli-born migrants in the USA – Israeli Arabs, ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Jewish majority. Findings indicate that originating from a minority community in the homeland predicts not only a different rate, but also different longitudinal trends of Israeli identification. I offer several possible explanations for these variations, but an in-depth analysis of the Israeli case indicates that the transnational effect of the changing multicultural agenda in Israel is the leading mechanism at play.
Online Israel Studies Bulletin Board 