Des Israéliens en Europe

désirs d’ailleurs et dispositions à la mobilité

Abstract

Although Israel has been built as an immigration country, it has always experienced a reverse movement of emigration. For quite some time this movement was mainly oriented toward Anglo-Saxon countries, notably the United States. However, Europe and Berlin in particular recently became new attractive destinations. We suggest that the motives leading Israelis towards countries such as France and Germany, which share the common attribute of being both non-English speaking countries and of having developed an efficient welfare system, are quite different from those highlighted by previous studies. According to those studies, the motives that pull many Israeli to Anglo-Saxon countries are indeed primarily economically driven. The explanations given by two groups of people to justify either their overseas settlement, or their intention to move from Israel to Europe have been reviewed for the purpose of this article. The first group is composed of Israelis who settled in Paris and Berlin, whereas the second group gathers prospective migrants who still live in Israel but intend to move in the near future. This article also aims to point out the specific resources allowing these migration projects to come true. It indicates that they are directly connected to social dispositions that may be converted into assets for mobility.