Instant Absorption of Immigrants and Persistent Exclusion of Arab Citizens in Israel

There is no 'host' group in Israel; all but a small fraction of the population are either immigrants, children of immigrants, or members of an excluded indigenous minority. In addition, Israel is stratified not only along ethno-national lines, dividing Jews from the indigenous Palestinian population, but also between Ashkenazi (predominantly originating from Europe) and Sephardim (predominantly from North Africa and the Middle East). Regarding unemployment, all male immigrant groups, as well as Palestinians, have higher probabilities than third-generation Jews of being unemployed. This chapter examines the extent of convergence among ethnic groups in Israel as exemplified by differences in labour-market participation and occupational attainment between first and second generations of immigrants. Even after controlling for education and demographic attributes, Jews of Middle Eastern and North African origins had lower odds of attaining higher class positions than second-generation Israelis and Jewish immigrants of European descent.