Making room at the table: Incorporation of foreign workers in Israel

Abstract

In this article, we explore how foreign workers’ presence is redefining the identity borders of Israeli society and the challenges posed to Israeliness by the inclusion of first, 1.5 and second generation foreign workers in the Israeli polity. We explore how these migrants perceive life in Israel, their own and their children‘s identities, prospects for incorporation and permanence and intersections between Israeliness and Jewishness. To inform our analysis, we conducted interviews in winter 2010 with 22 foreign workers who are first generation; about half are parents of children in Israel. Our analysis reveals that foreign workers seek acceptance into the Israeli polity, especially for their children who have been socialized into Israeli life and that their potential inclusion has real implications for the understanding of what it means to be Israeli.

Living on borrowed time

“…Since migrants are subjects, migration time is dependent on the receiving state's whim: a migrant may lose status and face immediate deportation at any time. (This is what Griffiths et al (2013) call 'frenzied time' and what we refer to elsewhere as 'arbitrariness' (Harper and Zubida 2010. ) Since many TLM take on debt to pay visa fees and acquire start-up funds, migrants are often willing to work incessantly to repay loans quickly and then to make the maximum money possible within the bracketed visa time.…”

Social Workers’ Attempts to Navigate Among the Elderly, Their Families, and Foreign Home Care Workers in the Haredi Community

“…The majority of FHCWs in Israel arrive from the Far East (the Philippines, India, Nepal)-societies which are also characterized by a strong affinity and respect for religion and related religious ceremony. Thus, FHCWs from a religious background arrive in Israel with expectations to find religious and moral people (Harper & Zubida, 2010). According to the study of Harper and Zubida (2010), FHCWs' perception of Israel as the Holy Land could serve as a significant source of motivation for FHCWs' wanting, and even preferring, to work with UOJ families.…”

“…Thus, FHCWs from a religious background arrive in Israel with expectations to find religious and moral people (Harper & Zubida, 2010). According to the study of Harper and Zubida (2010), FHCWs' perception of Israel as the Holy Land could serve as a significant source of motivation for FHCWs' wanting, and even preferring, to work with UOJ families. In addition, FHCWs acknowledge the value of nursing elderly parents, as this role is also part of their intergenerational familial framework.…”

“…In this context, Israeli families prefer to employ foreign workers, as they are less costly than Israeli home care workers, and may be employed around the clock (Ayalon, 2009a). In addition, the literature refers to the nature of care work , which is perceived as being of low status, and to cultural diversity , as factors that create vulnerability among the FHCWs, who may experience discrimination, racism, and the like (Harper & Zubida, 2010; Martin-Matthews, Sims-Gould, & Naslund, 2010). In the familial context, FHCWs are perceived by older adults and their families as a “sort of family member,” who provides intimate assistance and emotional support (Ayalon, 2009b).…”

“Now I am also Israeli”: From Illegality to Legality ‐ Life experiences and identities of migrant workers’ children after receiving civil status in Israel

“…Unlike previous studies on migrant workers' children in Israel, which explored various aspects related to living illegally within territories, such as sense of belonging and accessibility to health and educational services (Eliyahu-Levy and Ganz-Meishar, 2016;Harper and Zubida, 2010;Elias and Kemp, 2010;Kemp, 2007;Lifszyc-Friedlander, 2009;Meir, Slone, and Lavi, 2012;Meir, Slone, Levis, Reina, and Livni, 2012;Sabar and Gez, 2009;Shapiro, 2013;Zubida, Lavi, Harper, Nakash and Shoshani, 2013), this research focuses on the experiences of these children after receiving permanent residency (PR). Furthermore, while previous studies focused only on young and/or adolescent migrant workers' children, this research explored children from the age of 12 -27 years old.…”