Last update - 00:00 08/05/2007
Most immigrants see themselves as Jewish first, Israeli last
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Most immigrants define themselves first as Jewish and then according to their country of origin. A minority - 15 percent of Western immigrants, 16 percent of Ethiopian immigrants and 23 percent of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, consider themselves Israelis first. In total, 80 percent of immigrants don't define their nationality as Israeli first.
The Ruppin Institute examined different immigrant groups' social, economic and employment integration in Israel. The index, which will be presented on Tuesday to the Knesset's Immigration and Absorption Committee on Tuesday, is based on a survey by the Central Bureau of Statistics and a broad survey of 2,500 immigrants who were interviewed for the survey in their mother tongues.
The survey revealed that 64 percent of immigrants from the U.S. and Europe, 56 percent of Ethiopian immigrants, and 42 percent of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, see themselves first and foremost as Jews.
More than 75 percent of Ethiopians and 52 percent of Western immigrants said the main drive behind their immigration was the desire to live as Jews in a Jewish state. In contrast, just 12 percent of immigrants from the former Soviet Union noted this as their motive for immigrating.
The researchers also found the immigrants defined themselves more according to their country of origin than as Israelis - 18 percent of Ethiopian immigrants defined themselves as Ethiopian and 16 percent as Israelis; 33 percent of immigrants from the former Soviet Union defined themselves according to their country of origin, while 23 percent defined themselves as Israelis.
Alienation was broad-based in the Ethiopian immigrant community, with 37 percent reporting they had no one to trust, six times higher than among the native-born Israeli population.
Immigrants from the Asian republics of the former Soviet Union reported extensive loneliness, with 27 percent admitting to being lonely, five times higher than among the natives.
A satisfaction index found that former Soviet immigrants are the most disappointed with 45 percent displeased with their situation and only 15 percent satisfied with their absorption.
Nearly 80 percent of Ethiopian immigrants and almost half of former Soviet Union immigrants feel it is important to maintain the culture of their country of origin and most noted their closest friends hail from similar backgrounds. Nonetheless, large percentages said they feel at home in Israel - 82 percent of Ethiopian immigrants, 69 percent of Western immigrants and 58 percent of those from the former Soviet Union.