Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and its Repercussions in the 1950s and After (review)

This book is a slightly revised English translation of an earlier book which appeared in Hebrew in 1994. It is one of the only historically oriented analyses of the mass immigration to Israel during the first years of the new state's existence: 1948–1951. During this period 685,761 immigrants arrived in Israel, more than doubling the Jewish population. On the whole the English version is of high quality and is comfortably readable. Inevitably there are a few bloopers which reflect the Hebrew original: "Jews of the East" (p. 4) rather than "Jews from the Middle East and North Africa"; "American capitalists" (p. 235) rather than American "contributors."

The substance of the book may be gleaned from its eight chapter titles: policy in the making; policy put to the test; financial crisis and policy implications; from immigrant camps to ma'abarot; the conflict over education; confronting the old-timers; changes in immigration and absorption policy; immigration during 1948–1998 and its ramifications on Israeli society. The text is enhanced by selected black-and-white photos which enliven the presentation and give the reader a sense of what life in situ looked like.

The principal theme of the book is the on-going tension between the official policy of open, unselected immigration and the desire of some policy makers to introduce selection criteria. In the face of a strong ideologically oriented mythology, the latter views were expressed only in restricted political contexts and were hardly aired in the public domain. It is the author's goal to demonstrate that there were many dissenting views to the overall policy of open, unselected immigration during the first years of the state's existence. The reservations were expressed by pragmatists, most of whom were involved in the practical, almost impossible tasks of immigrant "absorption" in a society with an undeveloped infrastructure, limited economic resources, inadequate health care personnel and facilities, a multitude of competing organizations with undefined responsibilities, and the need to develop and maintain an army in the face of ongoing hostility from neighboring countries. The reservations took the form of uncertainty as to whether the newly established state could cope with thousands of immigrants, many of whom were sick, disabled, and aged and who required a tremendous investment in health care as well as economic and social support before they could become productive members of the society.

However, the single-mindedness of the leadership and principally the unshakable stance of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who was convinced that without immigration Israel could not exist, determined the unswerving policy for open, unrestricted immigration—despite tremendous hardship for the immigrants. Even when directives were issued to grant priority to young, healthy, potentially productive immigrants, officials in the field invariably by-passed them in their reluctance to break up families or deny admission to those expressing a messianic desire to come to Israel.

The text is extremely detailed and will undoubtedly be useful for historians interested in this period. At the same time there is a surfeit of detail which is in many cases descriptive rather than analytical. This excessive detail may disturb some readers; probably only history bugs are likely to find the book of real interest.

While the author has clearly burrowed deep in many archives, early documents, and diaries which are listed in elaborate and detailed notes at the end of the book, her statement that "the immigrants' story remains to be told" (p. 11) seems problematic. Although the book is presented as the first historical analysis of this period, it is clear that a separation of history as a discipline from the other social sciences cannot present as insightful a view as would be gained by an integrated approach. It is unfortunate that the author did not seek out research findings produced by early sociologists and anthropologists whose interest was precisely in uncovering the "immigrants' story" during this period. The...