| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2.8 million (full or partial Ashkenazi Jewish descent)[1][2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Jerusalem,Tel Aviv,Haifa and many other places | |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew (Main language for all generations); Older generation:Yiddish,Russian,Polish and other languages of countries that Ashkenazi Jews came from | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
Ashkenazi Jews in Israel refers to immigrants and descendants ofAshkenazi Jews, who now reside within the state ofIsrael, in the modern sense also referring toIsraeli Jewish adherents of theAshkenazi Jewish tradition. As of 2013, they number 2.8 million and constitute one of the largestJewish ethnic divisions in Israel, in line withMizrahi andSephardi Jews.[1][2] Ashkenazim, excluding those who migrated from the formerUSSR, are estimated to be 31.8% of the Israeli Jewish population in 2018.[3]
Ashkenazi Jews are Jews whose ancestors had settled inCentral and Eastern Europe, as opposed to those who remained in theMiddle East and North Africa region, or settled in other places.
Jews of mixed background are increasingly common, partly because of intermarriage betweenAshkenazi andSephardi/Mizrahi, and partly because many do not see such historic markers as relevant to their life experiences as Jews.[4]
TheAshkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel is an honored leadership role given to a respected Ashkenazi rabbi. The Chief Rabbi may make determinations regarding matters ofhalakha that affect the public and this position also has political overtones. Some religiously affiliated Ashkenazi Jews in Israel may be more likely to support certain religious interests in Israel, including certain political parties. These political parties result from the fact that a portion of the Israeli electorate votes for Jewish religious parties; although the electoral map changes from one election to another, there are generally several small parties associated with the interests of religious Ashkenazi Jews. The role of religious parties, including small religious parties that play important roles as coalition members, results in turn from Israel's composition as a complex society in which competing social, economic, and religious interests stand for election to theKnesset, aunicameral legislature with 120 seats.[5]
In 2018, 31.8% of Israeli Jews self-identified as Ashkenazi, excluding the 12.4% immigrants from the former USSR, a majority of whom self-identify as Ashkenazi.[6] They have played a prominent role in the economy, media, and politics of Israel since its founding. During the first decades of Israel as a state, strong cultural conflict occurred between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews (mainly east European Ashkenazim). Sephardic groups were largely marginalized, dominated politically, culturally, and economically through Ashkenazi dominated institutions. Geographically, the two groups were separated, as Sephardic Jews were settled in peripheral "development towns" and frontier areas with limited resources.[7] The roots of this conflict, which still exists to a much smaller extent in present-day Israeli society, are chiefly attributed to the concept of the "melting pot".[8] Sephardi language, traditions, and identities were suppressed in favor of Ashkenazi norms.[9] That is to say, all Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel were strongly encouraged to "melt down" their own particular exilic identities within the general social "pot" in order to become Israeli.[10]
The majority of Ashkenazim in Israel today tend to vote for left-wing and centrist parties, favoring especiallyBlue and White andYesh Atid, while other Jewish subdivisions such asMizrahi Jews in Israel tend to favor more right-wing parties such asLikud, with the distinction sharpening since 1980.[11] Ashkenazi prominence on the left has historically been associated with socialist ideals that had emerged inCentral Europe and thekibbutz and Labor Zionist movements; while Mizrahim, as they rose in society and they developed their political ideals, often rejected ideologies they associated with an "Ashkenazi elite." Instead, from the 1970s, Mizrahim began to flood into the ranks of Likud in response toMenachem Begin enthusiastically making overtures to the community, despite not being Mizrahi himself.[12] Although these tensions were initially based on economic rivalries, the distinction remained strong even as Mizrahim increasingly moved up the socioeconomic ladder around 1990, entering themiddle class, and the disparity between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim diminished (but did not completely disappear), with Mizrahi political expression becoming increasingly linked to theLikud andShas parties;Shas was founded as a party to represent Mizrahim while Likud, the largest right-wing party, in Israel became increasingly influenced by Mizrahi political articulation, with the Mizrahi middle class' political coming-of-age held by political science commentators to be embodied by the rise of Mizrahi Likud politicians such asMoshe Kahlon[13] andMiri Regev.[14] The Ashkenazi vote has, aside from electorally limited majority-Ashkenazi ultra-religious parties such asHabayit Hayehudi andUTJ, long been associated withsecularism andsocial liberalism and Ashkenazi Israelis are overall less devout, more socially liberal, and have more favorable opinions towards improving relations with Arab peoples, and greater opposition to settlements in the West Bank, than Israelis of Sephardic and Mizrahi extraction.[15] Today, the most influential party among Ashkenazi Israelis appears to beBlue and White.[11]
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