Self-Organization, Diaspora Management, and German/Israeli Co-operations: The Benefits of Israeli Migrants in Germany for Israel and for Germany

Israeli Jews have been leaving Israel since state foundation: what happened with them? How did the state react to them? And how did they conceptualise of themselves? This paper will tackle these key questions from the side of both states, but also from the side of those Israeli Jews who left Israel. The focus will lie on Germany. Historically, data on Israeli migration to Germany is sparse. This reveals the underpinning of this specific migration, which ties in with broader trends in Israeli society. Germany has become an attractive destination of Israeli migrants since the early 2000s, prior to 2000 the migration of Israelis was small. It could be overlooked from the side of the Israeli state; Germany did not pay much attention to these unplanned immigrants either. I will analyse the intersections between the different efforts from the side of both states chronologically, the institutionalisation of Israeli actors on location, as well as private efforts of self-organisation, and argue that the State of Israel capitalises on the emotional ties of Israelis abroad to Israel on the one hand, while on the other hand, the growing amount of German/Israeli endeavours evidences the social and economic benefits of the emigrants to both states, which at the same time connect to identity developments on the ground, and the formation of new Israeli/German blended identities.