Journalistic reports sometimes depict Israeli immigrants as employed in menial occupations, such as cab drivers or furniture movers. However, every study based on systematic analysis of census or survey data demonstrates that immigrants are far more educated than Israelis generally, and hold higher status occupations than both US and Israeli populations.
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One, two, tree.” “No, Dad! It’s one, two, thhhhree.” Growing up with Israeli parents in Los Angeles was often uncomfortable. I never felt completely at home. My parents were not locals, yet I was. They pronounced things differently with heavy accents. “Thhhreeee,” not, “tree!” It was funny, but awkward. Here I was correcting my father’s English. I got a real kick out of it, but deep inside me I was confused. Where was home?
Israelis produce most of the Hebrew publications in the United States today, which comprise more scholarly Hebrew publications than poetry and prose. The earlier generation of Hebrew writers who emigrated from Europe to the US is now deceased, and today it is Israelis who produce most of the Hebrew writing in this country.
In literature, some of the themes are the new experiences in America, and nostalgia for Israeli roots. While it is hard at this time to evaluate the output of the Israeli American community within a historic perspective, it can be said that this community continues the long tradition of Hebrew creativity in America.
The Israeli American collections are definitely still in the beginning phases. The Iranian Jews have produced numerous regularly published, long-running Persian language magazines and newspapers, as well as a number of Persian and English language novels. Compare this to the Israeli American community, which has had a few magazines, none of which have lasted very long, and a few newspapers that have achieved some longevity in Los Angeles and New York.
My sense is that the Israeli community has rather recently undergone a series of shifts. Once considered (back in the old country) a community of yordim, Israelis in America are gradually being considered a community of former Israelis.
On one of his last visits here, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin held an official meeting with the local Israeli community––the first time he had done so. This marked a degree of acceptance back home that was internalized by the local Israelis.
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