Larissa Remennick, Israel at 75: Thriving on Diversity and Conflict? Part 1 of 3

Shoshana Shier Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture Series

Larissa Remennick (Bar-Ilan University)

Three Part Lecture Series: "Israel at 75: Thriving on Diversity and Conflict?"

The extreme diversity of modern Israel is both its strength and liability. President Reuben Rivlin warned a few years ago that Israeli social space is increasingly divided into separate tribes, each with its own values and lifestyles, and the walls between these tribes may threaten national solidarity. This lecture series will introduce complex social stratification of the contemporary Israeli society along the lines of ethnic origin, religion and religiosity, and immigration status (natives, long-timers, and newcomers). We will explore the origins and expressions of these internal divisions between Jews and Arabs, and within the Jewish majority – between religious and secular Israelis, those living within the Green Line and West Bank settlers, Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, the Jewish immigrants of Russian and Ethiopian origin, and recently-added non-Jewish labor migrants. The lectures and discussions will foster a deeper understanding of a complex and dynamic social history of Israel and current relations between different segments of this ultimate immigrant society.

Lecture 1: "Immigration to Israel: From the Jewish National Shelter to Attractive Global Destination"

Israel is an ultimate immigrant society: 95% of its Jewish population are 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants, and 35% of current residents are foreign-born. The lecture will introduce the dynamic social forces that have sustained immigration to Israel from the early 20th century to today. I’ll conclude with some initial data on the refugees from Putin’s war in Ukraine (Ukrainians and Russians).

Prof. Larissa Remennick left Moscow in 1991 as an early-career social scientist and since 1994 has worked at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. Her main research interests revolve around social history and migration experiences of Russian/Soviet/Post-Soviet Jews in Israel and in the West. She has written about economic mobility of immigrant professionals; issues of health, gender, and language use; intergenerational relations in immigrant families, and more. Her recent studies focused on the Generations 1.5 and 2.0 of Russian Israelis. Larissa has published three books in Russian, three books in English, and about 150 articles and chapters in the major social science journals.

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This lecture will be delivered in-person at JHB100 and virtually via Zoom. To attend virtually, please click THIS LINK on Monday, September 12, at 4 PM.