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Fighting to belong: diaspora soldiers, immigration, and national identity in Israel
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Yohanani, Lior. Fighting to belong: diaspora soldiers, immigration, and national identity in Israel. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-39cm-an25

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TitleFighting to belong: diaspora soldiers, immigration, and national identity in Israel
NameYohanani, Lior (author); McLean, Paul (chair); Shepherd, Hana (member); Cohen, Yinon (member); Rutgers University; School of Graduate Studies
Date Created2023
Other Date2023-01 (degree)
SubjectSociology, Judaic studies, Near Eastern studies, Diaspoa, Immigration, Israel, Judaism, Military, Social movements
Extent260 pages : illustrations
DescriptionOver 30,000 Jewish foreign nationals have served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the new millennium. They come from over eighty countries, take Israeli citizenship, and become soldiers. What makes such people leave everything behind and participate in high-risk and high-cost military service? What makes some stay and settle in Israel and others leave? And what roles do diaspora organizations and state-sponsored actors play in convincing, facilitating, and supporting diaspora recruitment and wellbeing before, during, and after their service? Drawing on an original survey with over 1,100 soldiers and more than 100 in-depth interviews, this study examines the pathways of diaspora Jews to the IDF, the work of state and diaspora actors, and the interconnections between immigration and military service. I study these issues in three articles. The first article explores how diaspora people from different origins make decisions about military service in Israel. It shows that military service constitutes a crucial site for immigration and integration; that people from different origins are driven by very different reasons, but in all cases, diaspora military service is inextricably connected to immigration concerns. The second article explores how diaspora organizations construct national identity and meanings of belonging that are conducive to high-risk homeland military service. Using a three-case comparison, the article shows how homeland military service is being normalized and legitimized as a crucial element of belonging to Israeli nationhood. The third article explores the long-term effects of diaspora military service on identity and migration plans. Drawing on the theory of ethnic return migration, it develops the concept of military return migration. The article shows that military return migration operates differently than the standard ethnic return migration in the civilian sphere and labor market. Altogether, this research project contributes to our understanding of immigration and integration; meanings of citizenship, nationalism, and belonging; diaspora organizations and state-diaspora relations; and transnational high-risk activism. It shows that military service is an important site within which these topics and processes unfold and materialize in totalistic and extreme ways.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-39cm-an25
LanguageEnglish
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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