Lewin-Epstein and Cohen, “Ethnic Origin and Identity in the Jewish Population of Israel”

Noah Lewin-Epstein and Yinon Cohen, “Ethnic Origin and Identity in the Jewish Population of Israel,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (June 2018).

The multifaceted ethnicity in the Jewish population of Israel is addressed by probing ethnic categories and their subjective meaning, using data collected in 2015 and 2016 on a representative sample of Israelis 15 and older as part of the seventh and eighth rounds of the European Social Survey. The paper develops hypotheses on the relationship between demographically based ethnic origin and national identity, as well as the effect of ethnically mixed marriages on ethnic and national identities. The authors find a strong preference among Jews in Israel to portray their ancestry in inclusive national categories — Israeli and Jewish — rather than more particularistic categories, such as Mizrahim, Moroccan, Ashkenazim and Polish. Whether “Israeli” or “Jewish” receives primacy differs by migration generation, socioeconomic standing, religion and political disposition.