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GEN17 AUSTRALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY SURVEY Gen17 Australian Jewish Community Survey JEWISH EDUCATION IN AUSRAELI A PROFILE OF ISRAEL-BORN AUSTRALIAN JEWISH RESIDENTS

Ran Porat

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First published 2018 Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation Faculty of Arts AllMonash rights reservedUniversity Victoria 3800 © David Graham and Andrew Markus Allhttps://arts.monash.edu/acjc/ rights reserved © David Graham and Andrew Markus All rightsFirstAnd publishedreserved 2018 © RanAustralianJCA Porat Centre for Jewish Civilisation FacultyFirst140-146 published of DarlinghurstArts 2018 Rd FirstMonash publishedAustralianDarlinghurst University2020 Centre NSW Victoria2023 for Jewish 3800 Civilisation Australianhttps://arts.monash.edu/acjc/Facultyhttp://www.JCA.org.au Centre of Artsfor Jewish Civilisation FacultyMonash of Arts University Victoria 3800 MonashAndhttps://arts.monash.edu/acjc/ISBN: University 978-0-9945960-6-2 Victoria 3800 https://arts.monash.edu/acjc/JCA 140-146 Darlinghurst Rd AndThis work is copyright. Apart for any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of it may be reproduced by any process without Darlinghurst NSW 2023 JCAwritten permission from the publisher. http://www.JCA.org.auRequests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed to the publisher. ISBN: 978140-146-0-6486654 Darlinghurst-7-2 Rd ISBN:Darlinghurst 978-0-9945960-6-2 NSW 2023 The imageshttp://www.JCA.org.au on the cover of this report have been used with permission from the owners. This work is copyright. Apart for any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of it may be reproduced by any process without This workwrittenISBN: is copyri permission978-0-9945960-6-2ght. Apart from for theany usepublisher. permitted under the CopyrightBuilding Act 1968, S,Building no Caulfield part of S, it Caulfieldcampusmay be reproduced campus by any process without written permission from the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed to the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed900 to Dandenongthe publisher.900 Dandenong Road Road This work is copyright. Apart for any use permittedCaulfield under CaulfieldEastthe CopyrightVIC East3145 VIC Act 3145 1968, no part of it may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. www.monash.edu/arts/acjcwww.monash.edu/arts/acjc Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed to the publisher. CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 1 AUSRAELI JEWS: A PROFILE OF ISRAEL-BORN AUSTRALIAN JEWISH RESIDENTS ...... 2 INTRODUCTION ...... 2 BACKGROUND – THE ISRAELI DIASPORA ...... 3 DEMOGRAPHICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL OVERVIEW ...... 4 JEWISH IMMIGRANT ARRIVALS ...... 4 AN INCREASE IN NUMBERS AND GENERATIONAL CONTINUITY ...... 5 YEAR OF ARRIVAL ...... 7 GENDER, AGE DISTRIBUTION - POPULATION PYRAMID ...... 9 LOCATIONS ...... 11 INCOME ...... 12 IMMIGRATION ...... 15 REASONS FOR IMMIGRATION ...... 15 ADJUSTING AFTER IMMIGRATION ...... 17 HEBREW ...... 19 THE ETHNOLINGUISTIC VITALITY OF HEBREW ...... 20 THE ETHNO-NATIONAL ENCLAVE ...... 21 RELIGIOUS IDENTITY ...... 23 RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION ...... 23 ATTENDANCE ...... 26 CHANGE IN RELIGIOUSNESS OVER TIME ...... 27 CONNECTION TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY ...... 28 CONNECTION TO THE WORLDWIDE ...... 29 CONNECTION TO THE AUSTRALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ...... 29 JEWISH EDUCATION ...... 31 JEWISH EDUCATION PREFERENCE ...... 31 RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL ...... 34 VISITING AND POSSIBLY MOVING (BACK) TO ISRAEL ...... 34 DIASPORIC TRANSNATIONAL ACTIONS ...... 35 PERCEPTIONS OF ISRAELI POLITICS AND SOCIETY ...... 36 VIEWS ON THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT ...... 36 ‘TOUGH LOVE’ - UNDERSTANDING ISRAEL-BORN JEWS VIEWS ON ISRAEL ...... 38 ...... 39 METHODOLOGY ...... 41 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 44

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Enumerated Jewish and Israel-born population, Census 2006-2016 ...... 5 Table 2: Israel-born Jews in 2016-2017, estimated number and percentage of the Australian Jewish population ...... 6 Table 3: with both parents Israel-born, 2016 Census ...... 7 Table 4: Israel-born Jews, selected age groups, change between 2006 and 2016 Census ...... 9 Table 5: Israel-born Jews in Australia by state of residence, 2006-2016 Census ...... 11 Table 6: Top ten suburbs of Israel-born Jewish population and total Jewish population, 2016 Census ...... 11 Table 7: Selected economic indicators, Israel-born Jewish population and total Australian population, 2016 Census (%) ...... 12 Table 8: Glen Eira Local Government Area, weekly income. Total population and Israel-born Jewish population by gender, 2016 Census (%) ...... 13 Table 9: ‘Which of the following terms best describes your current financial circumstances?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 14 Table 10: ‘Which, if any, of the following reasons prompted you to leave your country of origin?’ (Push factor) and ‘Which of the following reasons prompted you to come to live in Australia?’ (Pull factor), most important reasons, Israel-born Jews, Gen17 (%) 15 Table 11: Top 5 push and pull factors, Israel-born Jews, Gen08 (%) ...... 16

Table 12: ‘Did you experience any of the following difficulties when you first arrived in Australia?’ combined responses ‘Yes, to a great extent’ and ‘Yes, to some extent’, Gen17 (%) ...... 17 Table 13: Hebrew spoken at home, 2006-2016 Census ...... 20 Table 14: Languages most frequently spoken at home and main language of parents, Israel-born, Gen17 (%) ...... 21 Table 15: Hebrew proficiency, person with at least one parent Israel-born,by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 21 Table 16: Friendships of Israel-born Jews, Gen17 (%) ...... 22 Table 17: Israel-born Jews – school attendance, Australia and overseas, Gen17 (%) ...... 22 Table 18: ‘How would you describe your current religious identification?’ by country of birth, (N=8,621) (%) ...... 24 Table 19: Importance of religious belief and practice to own sense of Jewish identity, Israel-born and Gen17 average, Gen17 (%) . 25 Table 20: Importance of selected attitudinal indicators to respondent’s sense of Jewish identity, percent of Israel-born and Gen17 average, combined responses ‘very important’ and ‘fairly important’, Gen17 (%) ...... 25 Table 21: Connection to Jewish diaspora (‘To what extent to you agree or disagree with the following statements?’), by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 29 Table 22: Connection to the Jewish community, selected markers, Gen17 (%) ...... 30 Table 23: ‘Whether or not you have children, do you feel it is preferable for Jewish children to attend a school that is Jewish OR non-Jewish OR do you have no preference either way?’ Israel-born and Gen17 total (%) ...... 31 Table 24: ‘Has the cost of school fees ever prevented you from sending one or more children to a Jewish day school in Australia?’, Gen17 (%) ...... 33 Table 25: Visits to Israel (importance, number, longest visit, last visits, reasons) and likelihood of choosing to live in Israel permanently - Israel-born and Gen17 total (%) ...... 34 Table 26: Perspectives on Israel, Israel-born and Gen17 average (%) ...... 37 Table 27: Selected questions on Antisemitism, Israel-born and Gen17 average (%) ...... 40 Table 28: 2016 Census (Israel-born Jews) and Gen17 (Israel-born) – selected categories (%), with Gen17 sample weighted using ‘Weight IsraelBorn’ to correctly represent gender ratios ...... 41 Table 29: Number of participants in Gen17 by country of birth (unweighted) ...... 43

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Jewish immigrants to Australia, arrival year by country of birth, selected countries, 2016 Census ...... 4 Figure 2: Net migration Israel-born (ABS data) by year of arrival year, 2005-2016 ...... 7 Figure 3: Migration of Israel-born and Israel-born Jews (ABS data) by year of arrival year, 2005-2016 ...... 8 Figure 4: Israel-born Jews, year of arrival, 2006, 2011 and 2016 Australian Census ...... 8 Figure 5: Israel-born Jews, age distribution, 2016 Census (%) ...... 9 Figure 6: Jewish population, age distribution, 2016 Census (%) ...... 10 Figure 7: Australia – population pyramid 2016 ...... 10 Figure 8: ‘Which of the following terms best describes your current financial circumstances?’ Israel-born Jews, Gen08 and Gen17 (%) ...... 14 Figure 9: Increase and decrease in net migration of Israel-born to Australia in first year after an election in Israel, 2016 Census ... 16 Figure 10: ‘Did you experience any of the following difficulties when you first arrived in Australia?’ combined responses ‘Yes, to a great extent’ and ‘Yes, to some extent’ by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 17 Figure 11: ‘Compared to life in the country you lived in permanently before coming to Australia, how satisfied are you with your life in Australia?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 18 Figure 12: ‘How well can you read; speak; and understand Hebrew?’ Responses: ‘very well’ and ‘quite well’ combined, by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 19 Figure 13: ‘How would you describe your current religious identification?’, Israel-born, Gen08 (N=389) and Gen17 (N=504) (%) ... 24 Figure 14: ‘In the last 12 months, how often did you attend any type of synagogue or organised Jewish religious service?’ Israel- born, Gen08 and Gen17 (%) ...... 26 Figure 15: ‘In the last 12 months, how often did you attend any type of synagogue or organised Jewish religious service?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 26 Figure 16: ‘Would you say you are more religiously observant or less religiously observant than you were five years ago, or are you about the same level of observance?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 27 Figure 17: ‘How connected do you feel to Jewish communal life?’ Israel-born and Gen08/Gen17 total (%) ...... 28 Figure 18: ‘Are you currently planning to send this child to a Jewish primary school?’ Respondent has at least one child aged under five years of age, by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 32 Figure 19: ‘Are you currently planning to send this child to a Jewish high school?’ Respondent has at least one child aged under 12 years of age, by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 32 Figure 20: ‘Would you say the cost of sending your child/children to a Jewish day school is…’, Parents with children in a Jewish school by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 33 Figure 21: Responses to the statement ‘Democracy in Israel is alive and well’, by country of birth, Gen17 (%) ...... 36 Figure 22: ‘In your opinion, how big a problem, if at all, is antisemitism in Australia today?’ Response: ‘A very big problem’ and ‘A fairly big problem’, Israel-born and Gen08/Gen17 totals (%) ...... 39 Figure 23: From what you have personally experienced, if at all, are the following a problem in Australia Today?’ Response: ‘A very big problem’, ‘A fairly big problem’, Israel-born and Gen17 total (%) ...... 40

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report is based on the 2016 Australian Census and the Gen17 Australian Jewish Community Survey, which was conducted by the Australian Centre of Jewish Civilisation (ACJC) and the Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) . The Gen17 survey was made possible by the generous financial support of the JCA, Gandel Philanthropy, the Pratt Foundation, Australian Jewish Funders, the Besen Family Foundation, the Cher Family Foundation and (Victoria).

I was involved as a member of the Melbourne Gen17 Planning Committee, together with Adina Bankier-Karp, Dr Anita Frayman, Dr John Goldlust, Emmanuel Gruzman, Professor Andrew Markus, Dr Miriam Munz, and assisted in the promotion of the survey within the Israel-born community. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my friends and colleagues among the Ausraelis and in the Australian Jewish community at large for spreading the word about the survey in their networks.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the following people for their support and individual contributions to this project: Dr. David Graham, co-lead researcher of the Gen 17 survey, for assistance with the raw data of the survey; Dr. Emmanuel Gruzman, for his invaluable educated estimates on the Israeli population of Australia ; Dr Miriam Munz, for her comments on Hebrew teaching at Jewish schools in Australia; and to Dr Michael Brand of Otzma Analytics, for his review of the analysis and wise words of advice. Also, to Prof. (Emeritus) Sergio DellaPergola of the Hebrew University in , for his guidance on the demographic data, and to Dr. Nir Cohen from Department of Geography and Environment at Bar Ilan University for inviting me to Israel in December 2019 to present the main conclusions of this report.

I thank the people at ACJC Monash for enabling the publication of this report.

My deepest appreciation to Research Associate Tanya Munz, for her professional work at formatting and reviewing the report.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere and in-depth gratitude to Emeritus Professor Andrew Markus (ACJC), co-lead researcher of the Gen 17 survey, for his ongoing support of my research and for his detailed editorial comments on this report.

Special thank you to my family: my wife Mali, and my three daughters - Shir, Or and Meshie.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 1 AUSRAELI JEWS: A PROFILE OF ISRAEL-BORN AUSTRALIAN JEWISH RESIDENTS

INTRODUCTION This report presents a profile of Israel-born Jews resident in Australia, including their views on selected topics related to identity, emigration, homeland, and religion.

Migration from Israel to Australia started immediately after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 and it has not stopped, although the number of arrivals changes from year to year. It is a varied migration stream: not all Israel-born are Jews, not all Israel-born regard themselves as Israelis, and there are Israelis who were not born in Israel. Israel-born Jews in Australia do not necessarily regard themselves as part of the Jewish community.

This report is focused on the Israel-born Jewish population of Australia. In my doctorate completed is 2013, I used the term ‘Ausraelis’ – a combination of ‘Australians’ and ‘Israelis’ – to describe the community of Israeli nationals residing in Australia. Since then ‘Ausraelis’, adopted from a group under that name in the professional social network platform LinkedIn, has become popular among Israelis in Australia.

The analysis presented in this report is based on the data collected in the 2016 and earlier Australian censuses. It also draws on the Gen08 and Gen17 Australian Jewish Community surveys conducted respectively in 2008 and 2017.

The analysis positions Israel-born Jews in Australia along two axes. The first axis is time, where this report examines and details what changed and what remained the same over a period of more than a decade. This is done by comparing data from the 2006, 2011 and 2016 censuses and Gen08 and Gen17 surveys.

The second axis is related to the Australian Jewish community. It locates Israel-born Jews on a continuum of views, relative to the majority or mainstream of the Australian Jewish population. Thus, with regard to views on Israel, antisemitism, Jewish identity and education, the analysis locates the Israel-born in the context of the Jewish community.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 2 BACKGROUND – THE ISRAELI DIASPORA In the past, emigration from Israel was generally viewed in negative terms. Projecting from the Zionist notion of ‘negation of exile’, Jewish emigration from Israel was portrayed as an unnatural historical phenomenon where ‘weaklings’ abandoned the redemptive life offered by the Jewish homeland. The emigrants were termed Yordim (descending), perceived as traitors to the Zionist project, leaving the moral centre of Jewish existence (Israel) for the peripheral diaspora where Jews can never prosper and will always be under threat of extinction and marginalisation.1

But do who settle outside the country form part of an independent ‘diaspora’, a scattered population with an inferior existence? The question of whether or not emigrants from Israel can rightfully be defined as ‘an Israeli diaspora’ has perplexed the relatively few scholars who dealt with this group in recent years.

In 2002 Jewish American sociologist Steven Gold published his ground-breaking study The Israeli Diaspora. Documenting the specific social, economic and perception characteristics of Israelis abroad (almost exclusively in the United States), he concluded that ‘Israeli emigrants do not qualify as a diaspora per se, largely because of the short duration of their exile and the relative ease of return […] Nevertheless, having been socialized in Israel, they are intimately familiar with the language of diaspora and often describe their experience and identity as such.’2

A few years later, in their 2010 book on Israelis in the United States, Lev Ari and Uzi Rebhun were much more decisive when they argued that ‘The American Israelis definitely constitute a modern diaspora. They meet the definitions of a diaspora more closely than do American Jews or any other Jewish community outside of Israel today as well as over the generations of life in exile.’3 With regard to Australia, my previous studies suggest that ‘Israelis in Australia can be considered as part of the global Israeli diaspora.’4

Yet, the debate continues. It seems that the answer to the question ‘Is there a unique Israeli diaspora?’ is dependent on location, time and scholarship (or agenda) of the person asking it.

This report provides more evidence on the experiences and values of the Israel-born who have made their homes in Australia.

םידרוי וינב :קרוי תוינתא תוילארשי היווהכ לש ' ”.(See for example the negative depiction of Israelis in the US in the 1980s at Moshe Shoked (1991 1 Megamot), Issue 33, 1991, pp. 163-145; of Israelis) מגמ תו .(Yordim in New York: Israeli Ethnicity as a 'One night stand' existence) ” םישגפמ' םינמדזמ םישגפמ' in Los Angeles in the 1990s by Naama Sabar (1996). Kibbutzniks in the Diaspora, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. 2 Steven Gold (2002). The Israeli Diaspora. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 22. 3 Lilach Lev Ari and Uzi Rebhun (2010). American Israelis: Migration, Transnationalism, and Diasporic Identity, Leiden and Boston: Brill, p. 140.

4 Ran Porat (2013). Ausraelis - the diasporic identity of Israelis in Australia. PhD thesis, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, , p. 252. See also: Ran Porat (2017). ‘The Ausraelis: Israelis in Australia as a test case of distinctiveness vis-à-vis the Jewish diaspora’. Israel Affairs, vol. 24 (no. 3), pp. 1-24.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 3 DEMOGRAPHICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

MAIN FINDING

The Ausraeli Jewish community is vibrant, sustainable and economically sound.

KEY POINTS

1. Estimates of the Israel-born Jewish population in Australia are in the range 7,000 – 9,300, between 5.8% and 7.7% of the Australian Jewish population. 2. The number of Israel-born Jews who are now Australian residents has risen since 2000. 3. Currently the largest number of Jewish immigrants to Australia are from Israel. 4. While now the largest number of immigrants, the size of this immigrant stream is small (a few hundred a year) compared to recent Jewish migration waves to Australia from South Africa and the Former Soviet Union. 5. Israel-born emigrants have created a sustainable community, geographically centred in and around the major Jewish centres in Melbourne and Sydney, which has succeeded in economically integrating into the middle class in Australia.

JEWISH IMMIGRANT ARRIVALS Between 2000 and 2006 the migration of Israel-born Jews to Australia increased, since that time it has been largely stable. This compares with earlier migration waves from South Africa and Russian speaking countries of the Former Soviet Union (mainly Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Lithuania) which for a number of years had a dramatic impact on the demography of the Australian Jewish community but ceased being significant in recent years.

Figure 1: Jewish immigrants to Australia, arrival year by country of birth, selected countries, 2016 Census

Israel FSU South Africa USA UK

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 4 AN INCREASE IN NUMBERS AND GENERATIONAL CONTINUITY There are various estimates of the number of Israel-born residents in Australia and of those among them who are Jews.

In the 2016 Census, 62% of Israel-born Australians recorded their religion as Jewish. In addition, a small number of the Israel-born who chose ‘no religion’ or ‘not stated’ as their response to the religion question in the census, or inadequately described themselves, are of Jewish ancestry based on their answer to a census question on ancestry (247, or less than 0.3% of respondents in 2016). (Table 1).

Table 1: Enumerated Jewish and Israel-born population, Census 2006-2016

CENSUS CATEGORY 2006 2011 2016

Australian residents who defined their religion as Jewish in the census 88,831 97,336 91,023 113,0006 117,9038 Estimated Jews in Australia based on the census data 105,6005 120,0007 121,0009 Israel-born – census data

Total 7,788 9,228 9,820

Jews 4,872 6,078 6,089

No religion 707 1,078 1,711

Jewish ancestry (1st response) 54 100 157

Jewish ancestry (2nd response) 9 13 54

Inadequately described n/a n/a 46

Jewish ancestry (1st response) n/a n/a 8

Not stated 526 393 558

Jewish ancestry (1st response) 21 19 24

Jewish ancestry (2nd response) 5 3 4

Minimum enumerated Israel-born Jews 4,961 6,213 6,336

5 David Graham and Andrew Markus (2018). Gen17 Australian Jewish Community Survey – Preliminary Findings, Monash University, p. 9. 6 Graham and Markus (2018), p. 9. 7 Dr Emmanuel Gruzman, private correspondence with the author of this report, July 9, 2019. 8 David Graham (2019). The Jewish Population of Australia – Key findings from the 2016 Census. JCA, p.9. https://www.jca.org.au/wp- content/uploads/2019/10/CENSUS-WEB_231019.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2cDrfD3ykFlaEJgJxxTvBZOrIVaixQ_Xpk3DozQDT--6eiccT0J1jULhI 9 Gruzman, private correspondence.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 5

Estimates of the Israel-born Jewish population are in the range 7,000 – 9,300. The highest estimate is that of Dr Emmanuel Gruzman. In his analysis of the 2016 Census Gruzman estimated the number of Israel-born Jews in 2016 at 9,30010 which is 7.7% of Australia’s Jewish population. Gruzman also suggests that the population of Israel-born Jews in Australia increased by 700, from 8,600 in 2011.11 The census indicates that the percentage of Israel-born Jews among Australia’s Jewish population has increased since 2000, but they still constitute a small minority within the Jewish population. Dr David Graham in his report on the 2016 Census arrived at a lower estimate of 7,887.12

According to United Nations (UN) data, 12,763 Israel-born resided in Australia in 2017.13 That same year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published new data indicating that the estimated number of Israel-born in Australia stands at 11,350.14 One way to determine the Jewish Israel-born population from these estimates is to apply the percentage of Jews among Israel-born in Australia as indicated in the 2016 Census, which is 62%: this results in 7,037 Jews according to the latest ABS estimate and 7,913 according to the UN.

The following table (Table 2) summarises the various estimates and indicates the respective percentage of Israel-born Jews of the total Jewish population.

Table 2: Israel-born Jews in Australia 2016-2017, estimated number and percentage of the Australian Jewish population

2016 CENSUS SOURCE ABS 2017 GRAHAM UN 2017 GRUZMAN 2016 ENUMERATION Israel-born Jews 6,336 7,037 7,887 7,913 9,300

% of Australian Jewry 5.2 5.8 6.8 6.5 7.7

In addition to Israel-born Jews, there are an unknown number of Jews who were not born in Israel but have lived there for a period of time and identify as Israeli. Also, children with at least one Israel-born parent may see themselves as at least partially or completely Israeli as a result of various factors such as education, upbringing, home environment and social surroundings, and family and friends in Israel.

10 Explaining his estimation for 2016, Gruzman noted that ‘The indirect total adjustment factor for Israel-born Jews in Australia in 2016 is 35%, or a direct inflationary number of 53%. The total adjustment factor includes both stages: Estimated Resident Population (ERP) adjustment (1.16) and adjustment factor (24%). In my paper outlining the methodology the adjustment factor (24%) is calculated for Israel-born Jews but not the ERP adjustment (1.16), I have calculated this separately to include in your report. In the 2016 Australian Census, 6,089 Israel-born Jews indicated as their religion. The number of Israel-born Jews who indicated a Jewish religion needs to be multiplied by the ERP adjustment (1.16) and the outcome divided by the complement of the adjustment factor (0.76). The adjustment factors are calculated in the following way: ERP adjustment 6,089*1.16=7,063; adjustment factor 7,063/0.76=9,293. Rounded the number of Israel-born Jews in Australia in 2016 is 9,300. The total adjustment factor is 6,089/9,300=0.65, expressed as an indirect inflationary number of 35% (6,089/0.65=9,368), or as a direct inflationary number of 53% (6,089*1.53=9,316)’ (private correspondence, July 9, 2019). 11 Explaining his estimation for 2011, Gruzman noted that ‘The indirect total adjustment factor for Israel-born Jews in Australia in 2011 is 29%, or a direct inflationary number of 41%. The total adjustment factor includes both stages: ERP adjustment (1.17) and adjustment factor (17%). In the 2011 Australian Census, 6,078 Israel-born Jews indicated Judaism as their religion. The adjustment factors are calculated in the following way: ERP adjustment 6,078*1.17=7,111; adjustment factor 7,111/0.83=8,567. Rounded the number of Israel-born Jews in Australia in 2011 is 8,600. The total adjustment factor is 6,078/8,600=0.71, expressed as an indirect inflationary number of 29% (6,078/0.71=8,561), or as a direct inflationary number of 41% (6,078*1.41=8,570)’ (private correspondence, July 9, 2019). 12 D Graham. The Jewish Population of Australia , p. 25. 13 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division (2017). Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2017 revision (United Nations database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev.2017), http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimates17.shtml 14 Australian Bureau of Statistics. ‘Table 3412.0 - Migration, Australia, 2016-17’ (27 July 2018), http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/3412.02016-17?OpenDocument

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 6 According to 2016 census data, the parents of 4,762 Australian residents were born in Israel (Table 3); 57% (2,726) of Australians with both parents Israel-born defined themselves as Jews.

Many Israel-born immigrants came to Australia as families with children. This conclusion is derived from the fact that 62% (2,984) of Australians with both parents born in Israel (4,762) were themselves born in Israel. The majority of this group (1,732, or 58% of 2,984) see themselves as Jews.

1,394 of Australians with both parents born in Israel (29% of 4,762) were born in Australia, 865 of this group (62% of 1,394) are Jews.

Table 3: Australians with both parents Israel-born, 2016 Census

AUSTRALIA Both parents are Israel-born 4,762 And person is: Israel-born 2,984 Jewish 2,726 Israel-born and Jewish 1,732 Australia-born 1,394 Australia-born and Jewish 865

YEAR OF ARRIVAL Net migration to Australia is defined as the number of people arriving in Australia from a country minus those leaving it who were born in that same country. This data is recorded annually by Australian Bureau of Statistics and is separate from the census.

From 2005 to 2016 the annual net migration of Israel-born emigrants to Australia was positive, peaking at more than 400 from 2005 to 2008, later dropping to a range of 150-250 a year. When the number of Israel- born and Israel-born Jews per year of arrival as recorded in the 2016 Census are compared with annual net migration data, it is found that Jews constitute most (and in some years, almost all) of Israel-born migrants recorded.

Figure 2: Net migration Israel-born (ABS data) by year of arrival year, 2005-2016

470 450 410 390

250 230 240 240 230 200 170 150

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 7 Figure 3: Migration of Israel-born and Israel-born Jews (ABS data) by year of arrival year, 2005-2016

ISRAEL BORN JEWS TOTAL ISRAEL BORN

374

326 319 305 300 293 301 275 277 264 265 248 241 228 238 211 207 209 211 178 181 185 166 166

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Sources: Year of arrival, 2016 Census; Net migration, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Table 3412.0 - Migration, Australia, 2016-17. Accessed March 2019. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/3412.02016-17?OpenDocument

With regard to the number of Israel-born Jews in Australia by year of arrival (Figure 4), until around 2000 the pattern recorded in the census strongly suggests that a large majority of those Israel-born who came to Australia remained in the country. This pattern changes after 2000, indicated by the various censuses. There could be several explanations for this discrepancy, for example, that movement of Israel-born between Israel and Australia became easier and more accessible. Hence, some Israel-born are not recorded in the census as they were in Israel at the date of the census, either to visit or to resettle.

Figure 4: Israel-born Jews, year of arrival, 2006, 2011 and 2016 Australian Census

2006 2011 2016

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 8 GENDER, AGE DISTRIBUTION - POPULATION PYRAMID Men outnumber women among Israel-born Jews (55% to 45%), three quarters are married, and 30% have at least one child (similar to the Australian Jewish population).

The age distribution of Israel-born Jews in 2016 was compared to the wider Australian population and to the Jewish community. The finding is that the Israel-born Jewish group is generally a younger population. This is especially noticeable with regard to the age bracket 35 to 45, where the percentage of Israel-born (around 6- 7% for both men and women) is double the equivalent proportion for the Jewish and the Australian population (3%). This is most likely a result of the ongoing stream of immigrants from Israel to Australia.

Immigration largely explains the addition of 1,051 Israel-born Jews – 784 aged of 25-49 and 267 aged 10-19 – in the period 2006-2016, as distinct from a reduction of 148 Israel-born Jews aged 50-75 during the same time period. (Table 4)

Figure 5: Israel-born Jews, age distribution, 2016 Census (%)

MALE FEMALE

90-94 85-89 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4 10 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10

Table 4: Israel-born Jews, selected age groups, change between 2006 and 2016 Census

AGE GROUP CHANGE 2006-2016

10-19 +267

25-49 +784

50-75 -148

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 9 Figure 6: Jewish population, age distribution, 2016 Census (%)

MALE FEMALE

100+ 95-99 90-94 85-89 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4 10 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10

Figure 7: Australia – population pyramid 201615

MALE FEMALE

100+ 95-99 90-94 85-89 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4 10 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10

15 Source: Population Pyramids of the World, https://www.populationpyramid.net/australia/2016/ (Population24,309,329)

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 10 LOCATIONS Paralleling the distribution of the Australian Jewish population, the largest number of Israel-born Jews reside in Victoria followed by ; a total of 85% Israel-born Jews (5,135 out of a total of 6,084) reside in either Victoria or New South Wales (Table 5).

Table 5: Israel-born Jews in Australia by state of residence, 2006-2016 Census

STATE 2006 2011 2016

VIC 2,369 3,026 3,044

NSW 1,781 2,045 2,091

QLD 276 410 403

WA 317 398 365

SA 58 105 106

ACT 49 76 55

TAS 9 12 12

NT 4 5 8

Close to 80% of Israel-born Jews in Victoria (and 40% of all Israel-born Jews) reside within and around the (in 7 of the 10 suburbs with highest Jewish populations) in an ethnoburb16 settlement model in which specific ethnic and/or religious groups settle, open business and socialise in proximity to one another. (Table 6)

Table 6: Top ten suburbs of Israel-born Jewish population and total Jewish population, 2016 Census

ISRAEL-BORN ISRAEL-BORN TOTAL JEWISH TOTAL JEWISH JEWISH SUBURB STATE JEWISH POPULATION POPULATION: POPULATION: POPULATION (INCLUDING ISRAEL-BORN) RANK RANK Bentleigh East VIC 1 416 2544 5

Caulfield North VIC 2 324 6319 1

Caulfield South VIC 3 267 4008 2

St Kilda East VIC 4 207 3247 3

Rose Bay NSW 5 147 2750 4

Caulfield VIC 6 131 2263 7

Vaucluse NSW 7 113 2166 8

Elsternwick VIC 8 112 1844 10

North Bondi NSW 9 105 2010 9

Brighton East VIC 10 105 1402 14

16 The term ethnoburb was first introduced by Wei Li when describing suburban Chinese population in Los Angeles. See: Li, W. (2009). Ethnoburb the new ethnic community in urban America, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 11 INCOME Census data indicates that Israel-born Jews in Australia economically outperform the total Australian population. This pattern is in line with the positive contribution of immigrants to Australia’s economy.17 The combination of several economic and personal factors (Table 7) explain this relative success.

Table 7: Selected economic indicators, Israel-born Jewish population and total Australian population, 2016 Census (%)

INDICATOR ISRAEL-BORN JEWS AUSTRALIAN POPULATION

WEEKLY INCOME Negative-$999 44.2 49.3 $1000-1999 24.1 18.1 $2000+ 16.3 6.7 EMPLOYMENT Employed 60.7 45.7 Unemployed, looking for work 3.5 3.4 Not in the labour force 22.2 26.9 EDUCATION Bachelor degree and above 36.1 16.2 Diploma and above 10.0 7.2 OCCUPATION Professionals 20.8 10.1 Managers 13.4 5.9

More than 40% of Israel-born Jews earn weekly income of over $1000, which is 15% higher than equivalent figure within the Australian population. These levels of income are facilitated through a successful assimilation into the Australian job market. More than 60% of Israel-born Jews are employed, as opposed to 46% in the Australian population. The rate of unemployment in 2016 (approximately 3.5%) and people out of the labour force (22%-27%) are similar for the Israeli-born and total population.

Entry to the job market is related to level of education. According to the 2016 Census, 36% of Israel-born Jews have completed at least a university bachelor’s degree. This is a very high proportion, more than double the Australian population (16%). One explanation for this difference is the demands of Australian immigration policy; most Israel-born who emigrated to Australia came via the skilled migrant scheme, in which higher education or equivalent certification is a prerequisite.18 High levels of proficiency in English also assist in the relative success of Israel-born Jews in the Australian market. Three quarters of them reported mastering English, 60% ‘very well’, 12% ‘well’.

Unsurprisingly, in keeping with the high levels of education, a high proportion of Israel-born Jews find jobs either as professionals (20%, compared to 10% among all Australians) and managers (13%, double the Australian population).

Additional income data is available for the municipal area with the largest number of Israel-born (and Jews), the City of Glen Eira in Victoria. Of Glen Eira’s total population of 140,875, the enumerated Jewish population

17 See, for example, the 2018 Australian study - ‘Shaping a Nation’, The Treasury and the Department of Home Affairs. https://cdn.tspace.gov.au/uploads/sites/107/2018/04/Shaping-a-Nation-1.pdf . Accessed July 2019. 18 Israel is considered one of the most educated countries in the world - ranked third in the OECD, Australia is seventh. See: Hess, A. (2019). ‘The 10 most educated countries in the world’, online CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/07/the-10-most-educated-countries-in- the-world.html . Accessed 5 Jan. 2019.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 12 is 23,658, of whom 1,802 are Israel-born Jews, less than 1.3% of the total. In this relatively affluent area, there is only minor difference between the income level of the Israel-born and the general population.

The data shows that a slightly higher proportion of Israel-born Jewish men and women earn income above $2000 a week and above than the total population in Glen Eira. Israel-born men also slightly outperform the total Glen Eira population in the $1000-$1999 category. Thus, income distribution of Israel-born Jews is either similar or slightly higher than the average for the Glen Eira Local Government Area.

Table 8: Glen Eira Local Government Area, weekly income. Total population and Israel-born Jewish population by gender, 2016 Census (%)

MALE FEMALE WEEKLY INCOME* ISRAEL-BORN ISRAEL-BORN TOTAL TOTAL JEWISH JEWISH Negative/Nil 10.5 10.4 13.9 14.2 $1$-$999 40.0 35.9 52.4 53.0 $1,000-$2,000 28.2 30.5 25.2 23.4 $2,000+ 21.3 23.2 8.5 9.3 N 51,015 806 55,774 696

* Excludes ‘NA’ and ‘not stated’

The Jewish community surveys supplement this objective data on income distribution with questions on self- perception. Objective and perceived financial status may diverge, as self-perception is in part determined by the gap between expectations and perceived realities.19 In addition, economic circumstances in recent years result in increasing pressures on households due to the rising cost of living.20

Both these factors are reflected in the self-perception of financial status of Israel-born Jews. The data suggests a minor decline in the feeling of economic security over the past 10 years (Figure 8). A slightly higher percentage of Israel-born Jews reported that they are ‘just getting along’ in the Gen17 survey (22%) than in the earlier Gen08 survey (17%), and a 5% fall was recorded in the portion of Israel-born Jews indicating that they are ‘living very comfortably’ (25% in the Gen08 survey, 20% in the Gen17 survey).

19 Self-perception is defined as ‘A concept in spatial cognition that involves mentally representing one’s own action, other’s action, and observation of action. Representations between self and others are shared, but not identical, influencing processes of empathy and social interaction’ - “Self-Perception”, Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2001). DOI: https://doi- org.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2 20 Ting, Inga, and Digital Story Innovation Team. ‘Chart of the Day: There Are 12 Other Things That Cost Households More than Electricity’, ABC News, 17 Dec. 2018, www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-27/electricity-prices-compared-to-biggest-household-expenses-chart/10148524. ; David Jacobs, Dilhan Perera and Thomas Williams. ‘Inflation and the Cost of Living - Bulletin March Quarter 2014’, Reserve Bank of Australia, 11 Sept. 2018, www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2014/mar/4.html.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 13 Figure 8: ‘Which of the following terms best describes your current financial circumstances?’ Israel-born Jews, Gen08 (N=389) and Gen17 (N=504) (%)

GEN08 GEN17

47

42

26

21 22 17

10

3 3 4 2 3

PROSPEROUS LIVING VERY LIVING JUST GETTING NEARLY POOR/ PREFER NOT TO COMFORTABLY REASONABLY ALONG POOR SAY COMFORTABLY

Compared to members of the Jewish community born in other countries (Table 9), more Israel-born see themselves as ‘just getting along’ (23% as opposed to 16% for the whole Gen17 sample), while fewer see themselves as ‘prosperous’ (only 3%, slightly higher than FSU born, and significantly lower than 8% for the total sample). Similarly, the percentage of Israel-born describing themselves as either living ‘very’ or ‘reasonably comfortably’, while a substantial majority at 71%, it is 3% lower than the total sample.

Table 9: ‘Which of the following terms best describes your current financial circumstances?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (%)

LIVING VERY / COUNTRY JUST GETTING POOR / NEARLY N PROSPEROUS REASONABLY OF BIRTH ALONG POOR (UNWEIGHTED) COMFORTABLY Australia 10 75 13 3 4,515

Israel 3 71 23 3 504

FSU 1 75 20 4 230

SA 8 72 17 3 1,652

UK 7 78 13 2 396

USA 7 70 21 3 218

Average 8 74 16 3 8,621

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 14 IMMIGRATION

MAIN FINDING

Immigration outcomes of Israel-born are mostly positive, yet relatively less favourable compared to other non-Australia-born Jews.

KEY POINTS

1. Most Israel-born indicated family related factors as the reason for their emigration and for choosing Australia as their destination (relatives in Australia, came with parents/partner) and to a much lesser extent better economic and personal prospects for themselves and their children. 2. With regard to timing, an increase in migration of Israeli Jews to Australia was observed the year following elections in Israel. 3. Similar to other Jewish migrants from non-English speaking countries, Israel-born faced a variety of challenges adjusting to Australia. These challenges included experience of discrimination, obtaining suitable work and place to live, and social exclusion. Up to 40% of Israel-born indicate that they faced a range of difficulties in Australia. 4. Most Israel-born are satisfied with their life in Australia, while 20% indicate that migration led to no change in their life satisfaction.

REASONS FOR IMMIGRATION According to the Gen17 survey family related reasons were rated first by a large margin among the factors leading to emigration of Israeli Jews (push factors) and why they particularly choose Australia (pull factors). An Australian partner, family in Australia and people who came to Australia as children with their Israeli parents are all included in the ‘family reasons’ category. Similar reasons are indicated by Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and South Africa.21

Table 10: ‘Which, if any, of the following reasons prompted you to leave your country of origin?’ (Push factor) and ‘Which of the following reasons prompted you to come to live in Australia?’ (Pull factor), most important reasons, Israel-born Jews, Gen17 (%)22

PUSH FACTORS % PULL FACTORS %

Family reasons (parents brought me to Australia, 49 Came with my parents as a child 32 partner relocated job etc.) Poor future for my children 7 To join family or partner here 23

Poor economic/employment prospects 6 Better future for my children 9

Employment reasons (e.g. recruited by Escape war & terrorism 4 8 employer) Poor lifestyle/climate 4 A safe environment 6 N (unweighted) 504 N (unweighted) 504

21 Graham and Markus (2018), p. 56. 22 Analysis of the reasons noted under ‘Other reasons’ did not change the order of the immigration reasons.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 15 While still the first ranked factor ten years earlier in the Gen08 survey, family related reasons were less dominant as push factors (less than 40% as opposed to close to 50% for Gen17) and pull factors (30% compared to more than 50% in Gen17). The difference in response could indicate continuity of the Israeli population in Australia, as Israel-born who were underage a decade ago are now adults who took part in the survey. Other changes in response are likely related to circumstantial shifts in Israel with regards to security and economy,23 possibly also to sample variation between the two surveys.

Table 11: Top 5 push and pull factors, Israel-born Jews, Gen08 (%)

PUSH FACTOR % PULL FACTOR %

Join family, relatives 20 Family in Australia 30

Came with parents 19 A safe environment 24

Escape war & terrorism 16 Good economic prospects 18

Poor future for children 13 Ability to obtain a visa 13

Poor economic prospects 12 For children’s future 12 N (unweighted) 284 N (unweighted) 284

Interestingly, since the turning of the century, in the year following elections in Israel there was an increase in the net migration of Israel-born to Australia (Figure 9). For Israel-born, an increase in net migration was recorded in the year after an election in Israel in 13 out of the 21 elections held between 1949 and 2015; 7 such increases were recorded consecutively between 1997 and 2014. For Israel-born Jews, as distinct from all Israel-born, the net migration data is almost identical – an increase in the year after an election in 14 out 21 elections, 6 consecutive increases between 2000 and 2014.

At the same time, net migration increase after an election remains modest - a maximum of 81 in 2007, may be related to the 2006 Second Lebanon War and not directly the elections. Furthermore, even if there is some correlation, this does not necessarily mean causation and further investigation is needed before reaching a conclusion that the two factors are indeed interconnected. An election is not an isolated event, and often it reflects or leads to a change in the economy, the political arena and in a wide array of variables.

Figure 9: Increase and decrease in net migration of Israel-born to Australia in first year after an election in Israel, 2016 Census

400 24 350 81 1

300 67 -78 250

200 70

150 34 21 41 8 100 -13 54 -15 11 2 -9 -3 50 -15 12 -13 13 0 1950 1952 1956 1960 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1985 1989 1993 1997 2000 2002 2004 2007 2010 2014 2016

23 The Gen08 sample was collected soon after the Second Lebanon War (2006) which also had an impact on economic issues. See for example: Yehuda Ben Meir, ‘Israeli Public Opinion and the Second Lebanon War’ In Shlomo Brom and Meir Elram, eds (2007), The Second Lebanon War: Strategic Perspectives (Institute for National Security Studies), pp. 87-102.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 16 ADJUSTING AFTER IMMIGRATION Israel-born and other Jewish immigrants reported encountering a wide range of assimilation and acculturation-related difficulties (Table 12). The top four difficulties noted by Israel-born were language barriers (almost 40%), making Jewish friends (31%), finding suitable employment (30%) and inadequate income (29%); 21% indicated discrimination when mixing with Australians, and a similar proportion indicated inability to afford adequate housing, discrimination from the Jewish community and obtaining recognition of qualifications. Indication of difficulties were highest for immigrants from the Former Soviet Union.

Table 12: ‘Did you experience any of the following difficulties when you first arrived in Australia?’ combined responses ‘Yes, to a great extent’ and ‘Yes, to some extent’, Gen17 (%)

DIFFICULTY ISRAEL SA UK FSU USA With English language 40 0 0 69 1 Making friends in the community 31 19 16 33 30 Finding suitable employment 30 20 10 40 13 Inadequate income 29 24 11 45 16 Discrimination mixing with Australians 21 17 9 23 15 Inability to afford adequate housing 21 21 10 37 15 Discrimination from Jewish community 20 11 7 20 11 Getting qualifications recognised 20 17 12 21 12 Educating your children 11 6 3 10 7 Personal health issues 9 7 6 13 11 Discrimination at work 8 6 4 10 7 N (unweighted) 504 1,652 396 230 218

Figure 10: ‘Did you experience any of the following difficulties when you first arrived in Australia?’ combined responses ‘Yes, to a great extent’ and ‘Yes, to some extent’ by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8,621) (%)

FSU ISRAEL SA USA UK 69 45 40 40 37 33 31 30 30 29 24 23 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 19 17 17 16 16 15 15 13 12 12 11 11 11 10 10 9 7 1 0 0 - - OF INCOME NGLISH FRIENDS OUSING E FFORABLE H LANGUAGE A COMMUNITY MPLOYMENT E USTRALIANS AKING A ECOGNITION ISCRIMINATION QUALIFICATIONS ISCRIMINATION M R D D EWISH

J

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 17 SATISFACTION WITH LIFE IN AUSTRALIA The relatively high proportion of Israel-born experienced difficulty in Australia, at a level second only to Jews from the Former Soviet Union among the large Jewish immigrant groups is surprising considering their relative financial success in Australia (as shown in the previous section). Yet this finding is in line with the 40% of Israel- born who did not indicate that they were more satisfied with their lives after moving to Australia.

Around 6 out of 10 Israel-born Jews attested to being ‘more’ or ‘much more’ satisfied with their lives following emigration to Australia (Figure 11). While a majority, the proportion is similar to that reported by migrants from the United States, but over 20% lower compared to Jews born in the Former Soviet Union and South Africa who indicated a higher level of satisfaction. The percentage of Israel-born reporting being ‘less’ or ‘much less’ satisfied with their lives in Australia is low at around 5%, a similar level to all other Jewish immigrants. One in five Israel-born reported no change in their level of satisfaction, the second highest proportion after Jews born in the United States.

Figure 11: ‘Compared to life in the country you lived in permanently before coming to Australia, how satisfied are you with your life in Australia?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8,621) (%)

MUCH MORE /MORE SATISFIED NEITHER MORE OR LESS SATISFIED

LESS/ MUCH LESS SATISFIED DON'T KNOW/PREFER NOT TO SAY

4% 4% 13% 12% 11% 10% 6% 6% 6% 14% 20% 27%

83% 88% 73% 62% 55%

ISRAEL SA FSU UK USA

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 18 HEBREW

MAIN FINDING

Israel-born Jews are the dominant group maintaining vitality of Hebrew in Australia.

KEY POINTS

1. At least 40% of Israel-born Jews speak Hebrew at home. 2. Having at least one Israel-born parent is the key to maintaining Hebrew proficiency. 3. Almost all Israel-born are highly skilled in reading, writing and understanding Hebrew, which differentiates them for other segments of the Jewish population. 4. Hebrew is retained within the Israel-born social enclave, preserved by maintaining a circle of Israeli friends who also reside in close geographical proximity.

Hebrew proficiency in Australia is highest among the Israel-born (Figure 12). While 80% to 90% of Israel-born read, speak and understand Hebrew, the equivalent figures for all other members of the Jewish population average close to 50% for reading, 30% for speaking and 35% for understanding Hebrew.

Figure 12: ‘How well can you read; speak; and understand Hebrew?’ Responses: ‘very well’ and ‘quite well’ combined, by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8621) (%)

READ SPEAK UNDERSTAND

89 82 84

55 56 53 51

41 36 34 30 27 27 28 24 26 22 20

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL FSU SA UK USA

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 19 THE ETHNOLINGUISTIC VITALITY OF HEBREW The strong connection between ethnic self-perception and language is encapsulated in the notion of ‘ethnolinguistic identity’ which refers to ‘people's thoughts and feelings about their membership in a group that is defined in terms of a shared ethnolinguistic background.’24 Ethnolinguistic vitality is the ability of an ethnic group to preserve and bequeath its distinctive language while facing competition with the dominant language of the host society.25 Success or failure to prevent complete language shift among later generations is hence an important indicator of the ethnic group’s capacity to maintain its core identity.

Rubino notes that ‘In the Australian context immigrant languages are overall in a vulnerable position’ since it is ‘strongly an Anglocentric country, where the dominance of English is largely unchallenged.’ In such an environment, immigrants often struggle to maintain their original languages, even in the first generation.26

In relation to Jews from Israel, ethnolinguistic vitality is focused on Hebrew, the national language of Israelis and the modern version of the primary Jewish language. Both the 2016 Census and Gen17 survey data indicate that Hebrew in Australia is sustainable, at least among Israel-born. In 2016, more than 10,000 Australians indicated that they speak Hebrew at home, 80% of them Jews, of whom around 4,000 are Israel-born. Since 2006, there has been a 36% increase in the number of Australians speaking Hebrew at home and close to 50% increase in the number of Israel-born Australians speaking Hebrew at home. The contribution of Israel-born Jews to the increase in Hebrew speakers in Australia is therefore significant.

Table 13: Hebrew spoken at home, 2006-2016 Census

HEBREW SPOKEN AT HOME 2006 2011 2016 % INCREASE 2006-16

Australia wide 7,568 9,667 10,343 36

Australian Jews (Israel-born included) 6,494 8,293 8,266 27

Israel-born 3,576 4,687 5,248 46

Israel-born Jews 3,050 4,048 4,153 36

Close to three quarters of the 504 Israel-born Gen17 participants noted Hebrew as their mother tongue (73%, 368 respondents). More 80% of them can either read (412), speak (423) or understand (446) Hebrew ‘very well’ or ‘quite well’. Hebrew was the mother tongue of around 60% of the father (190) of Israel-born Gen17 respondents, and of 65% (195) of mothers of Israel-born Gen17 respondents. English was noted as the mother tongue of 15% of parents, followed by multiple other languages spoken by the parents, indicating a diverse ethnicity and origin of Israel-born Jews in Australia (both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi).

Despite proficiency in Hebrew, close to 60% of Israel-born indicated in the Gen17 survey that English is the first most spoken at home (Table 14). Despite the fact that approximately one in three (37%) Israel-born respondents in the Gen17 survey testified to difficulty with the English language following emigration, this is a far lower rate than more than two in three (72%) indicated by Jews from the Former Soviet Union.27

24 Noels, Kimberly, Kil, Halik Fang, Yang. ‘Ethnolinguistic Orientation and Language Variation: Measuring and Archiving Ethnolinguistic Vitality, Attitudes, and Identity’, Language and Linguistics Compass, November 2014, vol.8 (11), p.618. 25 Karan, Mark E. (2011). ‘Understanding and Forecasting Ethnolinguistic Vitality’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol.32 (2), p.137. 26 Antonia Rubino (2010). ‘Multilingualism in Australia - reflections on current and future research trends’, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, volume 33, number 2, Monash University Epress, p. 17.1. 27 Graham and Markus (2018), p. 56. According to the 2016 Census, 819,922 Australians (3.5% of Australia’s population), who are able to speak another language, reported speaking English not well or not at all. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016. Compiled and presented by population experts. https://profile.id.com.au/australia/speaks-english. Accessed: 27 May 2019.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 20 Table 14: Languages most frequently spoken at home and main language of parents, Israel-born, Gen17 (%)

MOST SPOKEN AT HOME LANGUAGE FATHER MOTHER 1ST 2ND English 59 28 14 17 Hebrew 39 31 38 39 Russian 1 1 3 4 1 1 8 7 Other 1 39 37 33 N 504 329 504 504

Hebrew proficiency among Gen17 participants with at least one Israel-born parent is above 90% where the person is Israel-born as well, substantially lower in the range 51%-61% where the person has at least one Israel-born parent but was born in Australia (Table 15).

Table 15: Hebrew proficiency, person with at least one parent Israel-born,by country of birth, Gen17 (%)

BORN IN BORN IN GEN17 HEBREW PROFICIENCY ISRAEL AUSTRALIA AVERAGE Read – very well/quite well 92 61 73 Speak – very well/quite well 99 51 69 Understand – very well /quite well 100 58 75 N (unweighted) 225 334 625

THE ETHNO-NATIONAL ENCLAVE The ethno-national Israeli enclave in Australia is most obvious in the geospatial settlement pattern of Israelis, particularly in Melbourne, somewhat less so in Sydney.28 The physical proximity of Israeli Jews and to non- Israeli Jews positively affects the ethnolinguistic vitality of Hebrew in Australia.

In addition to the geographical proximity, the sociology of language retention points to social spheres, such as the family, friendship circles, meeting places such as cafes, sport clubs, places of religious worship and schools, as environments that can encourage or discourage language shift.

Gen17 provides evidence (Table 16) of the level of cohesion within the Ausraeli community, reflected for example in various formal and informal social networks, both in terms of personal contact and online. 38% of Israel-born reported difficulty making friends in the Jewish community29 and more than half (54%) indicated that none or less than half of their friends are Australia-born. Their friends are predominantly Jewish (67% indicating more than half or all of their friends are Jewish), although they are not friends they have had since childhood (27% none, 41% less than half). In line with previous findings about the Israeli community in Australia,30 tabulating these responses suggests that Israel-born Jews in Australia are friends of other Israeli migrants they met here and that they maintain a mostly Israeli social sphere.

28 As discussed in ‘Locations’ in the first section of this report. 29 Graham and Markus (2018), p. 57. 30 Porat (2013), pp. 178-181.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 21 Table 16: Friendships of Israel-born Jews, Gen17 (%)

WERE BORN IN KNOWN FROM HOW MANY OF YOUR CLOSE FRIENDS... ARE JEWISH? AUSTRALIA? CHILDHOOD?

None 17 27 2

Less than half 37 41 14

Subtotal less than half 54 68 16

About half 17 15 15

More than half 22 14 40

All 6 2 27

Subtotal half or more 45 31 82

Prefer not to say 2 2 2

N (unweighted) 504

Finally, the school domain has been identified as a site which can either promote accelerated language shift, or preserve immigrant languages as part of the regular school curriculum or in external after school hours programs.31 Hebrew is a central element within the vibrant Jewish education system maintained by the Jewish community in Melbourne and in Sydney. Hebrew is taught in all of the Jewish day schools and is offered at all levels including years 11 and 12. Every Jewish school student studies during some years of their schooling.32

Analysing Gen17 data on this issue is challenging, because most Israel-born survey participants – between 50 and 90 per cent of the 504 Israel-born respondents – chose not to answer the questions relevant to this topic. With that reservation noted, around one third of Israel-born Jews who answered the question said that they went to primary and/or high schools in Australia, close to 60% said they attended schools overseas, which includes Israel.33

Table 17: Israel-born Jews – school attendance, Australia and overseas, Gen17 (%)

LOCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL Australia 32 33 Overseas (including Israel) 62 57 N (unweighted) 254 255

31 Rubino (2010), pp. 17.6-17.7. 32 Information about Hebrew teaching at Jewish school provided in private correspondence with Dr. Miriam Munz, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University. 33 When asked whether they attended Jewish schools (primary and secondary) in Australia or overseas, the number of Israel-born Gen17 respondents dropped dramatically (75 for primary school, 167 and 146 for secondary school), yet the data does suggest that it is the same ratio of one third in Australia vs. two thirds abroad, as recorded for the question about primary/secondary schools in general (not necessarily ‘Jewish’).

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 22 RELIGIOUS IDENTITY

MAIN FINDING

The highest proportion of Israel-born Jews identify as secular

KEY POINTS

1. Two out of five Israel-born Jews identify as Secular (40%), followed by Traditional (27%) and Modern Orthodox (12%). 2. The relatively high levels of secular identification among Israel-born is reflected in regard for the rules and rituals of Judaism. Gen17 asked how important believing in God, Jewish law (Halacha) and praying was to sense of Jewish identity. 35% of Israel-born indicated that believing in God was ‘very unimportant’ to them, the highest proportion in the Gen17 survey, 10% higher than the average for all respondents.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION The large majority of Israel-born Jews exhibit strong individual affiliation and confidence with being Jewish, similar to the Jewish community in Australia. Close to three quarters completely agreed with the statements ‘I am proud to be a ’ (76%) and ‘I have a clear sense of what being Jewish means to me.’ (73%)

The highest proportion of Israel-born Jews identify as Secular (38%), followed by Traditional/Masorti (32%) and Modern Orthodox (12%); lower proportions identify at Progressive (7%), or Ultra/ Strictly Orthodox (5%). (Figure 13) These findings are similar to those obtained ten years earlier by the Gen08 survey, with marginally higher proportions in Gen17 identifying as Orthodox or Conservative, and a lower proportion identifying as Traditional.34 (Figure 13) This variation may in part be explained by sample error, also by possible confusion over the terms.

34 Minor changes among the more religious groups (Conservative, Traditional and Orthodox of all denominations) of up to 3% between Gen08 and Gen17 are within the margin of surveying error. Adina Bankier-Karp led the recruitment of Orthodox (Ultra, Strictly and Modern) participants in the survey.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 23 Figure 13: ‘How would you describe your current religious identification?’, Israel-born, Gen08 (N=389) and Gen17 (N=504) (%)

GEN08 GEN17

38 37 34 32

12 9 7 7 7 5 5 5 2 1 / / / - / NON THER / KNOW O ODERN T ' STRICTLY RTHODOX M EFORM ASORTI / DECLINE O R ON RTHODOX M ROGRESSIVE RADITIONAL D PRACTICING O ONSERVATIVE ECULAR P T LTRA S C U

NB: ‘Secular’ category includes the following responses: ‘Not religious’, ‘Cultural’ (Gen08), ‘Non-practising (secular/cultural)’, ‘No denomination – just Jewish’ (Gen17). ‘Other’ category includes ‘Something else’ and the following responses: ‘Opposed to religion’ (Gen08), ‘Mixed religion’, ‘Humanist’, ‘Atheist’ (Gen17).

Analysing data by country of birth reveals that the proportion of Israel-born identifying as Secular (40%), or the combined category of Traditional / Conservative / Masorti (33%) are closest to Jews from the former Soviet Union (48% and 30% respectively). Among Jews born in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom, a higher proportion identify as Orthodox and significantly lower proportion identify as Secular. (Table 18)

Table 18: ‘How would you describe your current religious identification?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8,621) (%)

TRADITIONAL / COUNTRY ULTRA/STRICTLY MODERN CONSERVATIVE/ PROGRESSIVE SECULAR OTHER OF BIRTH ORTHODOX ORTHODOX MASORTI Israel 5% 11% 33% 7% 38% 5% Australia 6% 24% 33% 15% 18% 4% SA 3% 35% 44% 7% 9% 1% UK 5% 22% 32% 21% 18% 2% FSU 6% 6% 30% 8% 48% 3% US 18% 13% 20% 24% 21% 3%

NB: Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. ‘Secular’ category includes the following responses: ‘Not religious’, ‘Cultural’ (Gen08), ‘Non-practising (secular/cultural)’, ‘No denomination – just Jewish’ (Gen17). ‘Other’ category includes ‘Something else’ and the following responses: ‘Opposed to religion’ (Gen08), ‘Mixed religion’, ‘Humanist’, ‘Atheist’ (Gen17).

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 24 The relatively high levels of secular identification among Israel-born is reflected in regard for the rules and rituals of Judaism. Gen17 asked how important believing in God, Jewish law (Halacha) and praying was to sense of Jewish identity (Table 19). Over half (54%) of Israel-born indicated that believing in God was ‘very/fairly unimportant’ to them, the highest proportion in the Gen17 survey, 13% higher than the average for all respondents; the proportion of Israel-born indicating that believing in God was ‘very’ or ‘fairly important’ to their Jewish identity was 39%, again the lowest proportion. A similar pattern was found with regard to the questions about the importance of observing Halacha (69% ‘very/fairly unimportant’) and praying (64% ‘very/fairly unimportant’). 69% of Israel-born respondents indicated that ‘marrying another Jew’ was important to them, compared to 80% of all respondents.

Table 19: Importance of religious belief and practice to own sense of Jewish identity, Israel-born and Gen17 average, Gen17 (%)

GEN17 RITUAL RESPONSE ISRAEL-BORN DIFFERENCE AVERAGE Very / Fairly important 39 53 -14 Believing in God Very / Fairly unimportant 54 41 13 Very / Fairly important 27 42 -15 Observing halacha (Jewish law) Very / Fairly unimportant 69 54 15 Very / Fairly important 30 44 -14 Praying Very / Fairly unimportant 64 52 12 Very / Fairly important 69 80 -11 Marrying another Jew Very / Fairly unimportant 28 18 10 N (unweighted) 504 8,621

In almost all other markers of Jewish identity included in the Gen17 survey, Israel-born did not stand out and scored within the same range as other participants (Table 20). These markers relate to social values as distinct from religious belief and practice, including moral and ethical behaviour, volunteering, giving to charity, learning about , and fighting antisemitism.35 The major differences concerned the importance of donating to charity (66% Israel born, 83% all respondents) and volunteering for charitable causes (64%, 77%).

Table 20: Importance of selected attitudinal indicators to respondent’s sense of Jewish identity, percent of Israel-born and Gen17 average, combined responses ‘very important’ and ‘fairly important’, Gen17 (%)

QUESTION ISRAEL-BORN GEN17 AVERAGE DIFFERENCE Remembering 95 95 0 Upholding strong moral and ethical behaviour 91 95 -4 Combatting antisemitism 85 92 -7 Learning about Jewish history 91 92 -1 Sharing Jewish festivals with your family 92 93 -1 Donating money to charity 66 83 -17 Supporting social justice causes 73 76 -3 Volunteering for charitable causes 64 77 -13 Jewish cultural experiences (, literature, art) 77 74 3 Studying Jewish religious texts 36 36 0 N (unweighted) 504 8,621

35 The two exceptions in this category ‘Combatting antisemitism’ and ‘Donating money to charity’ are discussed in other parts of this report.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 25 SYNAGOGUE ATTENDANCE The pattern of religious affiliation of Israel-born is reflected in the low rate of regular synagogue attendance, indicated by only one in four Israel-born, second only to the low rate indicated by Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union.

Figure 14: ‘In the last 12 months, how often did you attend any type of synagogue or organised Jewish religious service?’ Israel-born, Gen08 (N=389) and Gen17 (N=504) (%)

GEN08 GEN17

59 53

24 22 21 20

REGULARLY ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS DID NOT ATTEND AT ALL (ONCE A MONTH OR MORE) AND/OR HOLIDAYS

Figure 15: ‘In the last 12 months, how often did you attend any type of synagogue or organised Jewish religious service?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8,621) (%)

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL FSU USA UK SA

60 55 51 51 48 43 42 43 36 38

23 20 22 16 10 10 7 5

REGULARLY ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS DID NOT ATTEND AT ALL (ONCE A MONTH OR MORE) AND/OR HOLIDAYS

NB: The slight discrepancy between these two graphs for the Israel-born is a result of the weighting applied to the data

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 26 For Israelis, these attendance patterns may also indicate a different understanding of the synagogue as solely a religious venue (as projected from the secular Israeli public sphere), whilst historically the synagogue in the diaspora has been the centre of social and communal life. Similarly, only a small minority of Israel-born donate to a synagogue, and in much lower rates compared to other Jewish community members.36 Still, three quarters of Israelis attend the synagogue at least once during the year (Figure 15).

CHANGE IN RELIGIOUSNESS OVER TIME A low proportion of slightly more than two out of ten Israel-born attested to a change in their religious identification over the five years prior to the Gen17 survey (Figure 16), either becoming more or less religious. The two trends (more/less religious) cancel each other for Israel-born, hence Gen17 does not indicate that emigration is a factor influencing change in intensity of religiousness among Israel-born. When examining the responses of Israel-born who emigrated to Australia up to five years before the survey, an almost identical proportion indicate more and less religious observance (11% more religious to 13% less religious).

This finding differs from other major birthplace groups in Gen17; among those born in Australia and South Africa, a higher proportion indicate less religious observance, among respondents form the Former Soviet Union a higher proportion indicate more religious observance.

Figure 16: ‘Would you say you are more religiously observant or less religiously observant than you were five years ago, or are you about the same level of observance?’ by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8,621) (%)

MORE RELIGIOUSLY OBSERVANT ABOUT THE SAME LESS RELIGIOUSLY OBSERVANT NOT RELIGIOUSLY OBSERVANT FIVE YEARS AGO OR TODAY DON'T KNOW/ DECLINE

10 8 10 8 22 15 18 30 21 16 12 9

58 57 55 58 52 42

18 14 12 16 16 15

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL FSU SA UK USA

36 See Table 20.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 27 CONNECTION TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

MAIN FINDING

An increasing proportion of Israel-born Jews feel closer to the Australian Jewish community, however their affiliation is relatively low.

KEY POINTS

1. More than half of Israel-born feel connected to the Australian Jewish community in some capacity. 2. Their sense of connection, however, is the lowest within the Jewish population when considering country of birth. 3. In addition, Israel-born exhibit the lowest level of affiliation with the Jewish diaspora.

Around 35% of Israel-born respondents to the Gen08 survey indicated that they feel ‘only slightly’ or ‘not at all connected’ to Australian Jewish community. A decade later, a lower proportion, 22% of Israel-born Gen17 respondents indicated this response. Conversely, the percentage of Israel-born in Gen17 feeling ‘very’ or ‘somewhat connected’ to the community increased by 10% to reach 64%. Despite this change, the level of connectedness indicated by Israel-born remains the lowest among the Jewish population analysed by country of birth.

Figure 17: ‘How connected do you feel to Jewish communal life?’ Israel-born and Gen08/Gen17 total (%)

ISRAEL-BORN TOTAL

77 67 64 55

35

22 22 11

GEN08 GEN17 GEN08 GEN17 CONNECTED UNCONNECTED

NB: ‘Connected’ responses include ‘very connected’ and ‘somewhat connected’. ‘Unconnected’ responses for Gen08 were worded ‘only slightly’ and ‘not at all connected’ for Gen17: ‘somewhat unconnected’ and ‘Very unconnected’ Israel-born Gen08 (N=389), Israel-born Gen17 (N=504). Gen08 total (N=5,840) and Gen17 total (N=8,621)

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 28 CONNECTION TO THE JEWISH DIASPORA WORLDWIDE A relatively low proportion of Israel-born Jews ‘completely agree’ that they have ‘a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people’, at 65% the second lowest in the Gen17 survey. Only half (lowest) feel connected to other Jews, while less than half (lowest) indicated that they feel part of the Jewish people worldwide - the only segment of the community below 50% in this category, almost 15% below the total average. Only 34% completely agree with the statement that they bear ‘special responsibility to take care of Jews in need around the world’, 10% lower compared to the Gen17 total.

Table 21: Connection to Jewish diaspora (‘To what extent to you agree or disagree with the following statements?’), by country of birth, Gen17 (%)

QUESTION RESPONSE ISRAEL-BORN GEN17 TOTAL

I have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people Completely agree 65 77

I have a special responsibility to take care of Jews in need Completely agree 34 44 around the world I feel connected to other Jews even if I do not know them Completely agree 50 62 personally Feeling part of the Jewish people worldwide Very important 48 62

N (unweighted) 504 8,621

CONNECTION TO THE AUSTRALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY There are several indications of lower level of connection and involvement of Israeli-born in what they perceive as the Australian Jewish community and its institutions.

First, when asked directly how connected they feel to Jewish communal life (Table 22), almost a quarter of Israel-born indicated that they are either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very unconnected’, the highest proportion in the Gen17 survey based on country of birth. Similarly, close to two-thirds (64%) of Israel-born respondents, the second lowest proportion after Jews from the Former Soviet Union and far below the 80% among Australian- born, indicated that they are either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very connected’ to Jewish communal life.

One of every five Israel-born Jews in Australia considers belonging to the Jewish community unimportant to their Jewish identity. This is the highest proportion in the survey and more than 10% higher than the Gen17 average.

The actual rate of disengagement from Jewish community life (independent of country of birth) is most likely higher than indicated by the Gen17 survey. It is reasonable to assume that those who are disengaged are underrepresented in the survey as it was promoted by community organisations (as well as the Monash University Centre for Jewish Civilisation) and at least some of those who do not engage with the community either did not hear of the survey or chose to not take part in it.

However, Gen17 was able to add insight to the understanding of the group of Jewish Australians disengaged from the community. Respondents who chose a neutral (‘neither connected nor unconnected’) or negative (‘very unconnected’ and ‘somewhat unconnected ‘) response to the question about their interaction with the Jewish community were asked why they felt this way.

Regardless of country of birth the top two reasons were ‘your secular outlook/lifestyle’ (ranging from 20% to 35%) and ‘you don’t feel you fit in’ (13% to 18%). Israel-born do not stand out with regard to these top two answers (28% and 18% respectively). On the other hand, the third ranked response by Israel-born was ‘you are not interested in Jewish communal life’, the highest when survey participants were analysed by country of

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 29 birth. These findings indicate that disengaged Israel-born Jews also lack a disposition for community involvement.

Another indicator of low level of involvement and connection with the Jewish community is the relatively small percentage of Israel-born who indicate that they donate to Jewish causes, lowest (or second lowest) among Australian Jews, when analysed based on country of birth.

Gen17 data indicate (Table 22) that a large majority of Israel-born refrain from donating to any Jewish charity, or even to Israel-related organisations such as United Israel Appeal (UIA) or Jewish National Fund (JNF). Two thirds of Israel-born consider donating money to charity (the lowest proportion in the Jewish community based on country of birth) and volunteering to charitable causes (second lowest, after FSU born Jews) as ‘very important’ or ‘fairly important’ to their Jewish identity. Finally, one in five Israel-born consider belonging to a Jewish community as either ‘very unimportant’ or ‘fairly unimportant’, the highest rate within the Australian Jewish community, and much more than the Gen17 total (8%).

Table 22: Connection to the Jewish community, selected markers, Gen17 (%)

QUESTION RESPONSE/S ISRAEL-BORN GEN17 TOTAL

Very / Somewhat Connected 64 77 How connected do you feel to Jewish communal life? Very / Somewhat Unconnected 22 11

How important or unimportant are each of the following to your own sense of Jewish identity?

Donating money to charity Very / Fairly important 66 83

Volunteering for charitable causes Very / Fairly important 64 77

Very / Fairly important 78 91 Belonging to a Jewish community Very / Fairly unimportant 20 8

N (unweighted) 504 8,621

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 30 JEWISH EDUCATION

MAIN FINDING

Israel-born parents are less inclined than other Jewish parents to send their children to Jewish schools

KEY POINTS

1. Close to 60% of Israel-born Jews, whether they have children or not, agree that it is preferable for Jewish children to attend a Jewish school. 2. Despite this general preference, a majority among Israel-born Jews with children of school age prefer not to send their children to a Jewish school. 3. An important factor in the decision on school choice is cost, as most Israel-born with children of school age indicate that school fees place a significant burden on their household.

JEWISH EDUCATION PREFERENCE Israel-born Jews follow a similar pattern to the wider Australian Jewish population with regard to the decision whether to send their children to Jewish or non-Jewish schools. Most Israel-born Jews (around 60%) would prefer to have their children attend Jewish schools at either the primary or secondary levels.

Table 23: ‘Whether or not you have children, do you feel it is preferable for Jewish children to attend a school that is Jewish OR non-Jewish OR do you have no preference either way?’ Israel-born and Gen17 total (%)

ISRAEL-BORN JEWS GEN17 TOTAL RESPONSE PRIMARY HIGH PRIMARY HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL Strong preference for a Jewish Day School 41 42 47 47 Some preference for a Jewish Day School 20 17 22 21 No preference either way 16 15 13 13 Some preference for a non-Jewish Day School 7 9 7 7

Strong preference for a non-Jewish Day School 11 12 7 8

Don’t know which I prefer 5 6 3 4 Prefer not to say 0 0 1 1 N 504 8,621

At the same time, when Australian Jewish parents from all countries, Israel-born included, were asked to which school (Jewish or not) they wanted to send their children a more nuanced picture was revealed.37

37 For this part of the chapter only responses by parents born in Australia, Israel and South Africa were analysed because the number of respondents from other countries (FSU, UK and US) which fit the profile (with children at school ages) was too low (less than 50) to be considered a credible sample.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 31 More than half (53%) of Israel-born Jews with children aged under 5 indicate that they plan ‘definitely not’ or ‘probably not’ to send their children to a Jewish primary school, and a smaller proportion (45%) with at least one child aged under 12 gave the same response when asked about sending their children to a Jewish secondary school. A minority of 39% planned ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ to send their children to a Jewish primary school and 42% to a Jewish secondary school. In contrast, the majority of Jews of other birthplaces indicated that they planned to send their children to a Jewish school, with the highest proportion among Australia-born and South Africa-born Jews. The average for the Gen17 survey is that 54% plan to send their children to a Jewish primary school and 59% to a Jewish secondary school.

Figure 18: ‘Are you currently planning to send this child to a Jewish primary school?’ Respondent has at least one child aged under five years of age, by country of birth, Gen17 (N=590) (%)

YES, DEFINITELY YES, PROBABLY NO, PROBABLY NOT NO, DEFINITELY NOT UNDECIDED

6 7 8 12

16 18 23 13

17 23 21 12 30 8 13

18 48 44 41

21

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL SOUTH AFRICA TOTAL

Figure 19: ‘Are you currently planning to send this child to a Jewish high school?’ Respondent has at least one child aged under 12 years of age, by country of birth, Gen17 (N=1,117) (%)

YES, DEFINITELY YES, PROBABLY NO, PROBABLY NOT NO, DEFINITELY NOT UNDECIDED

12 14 13 12

11 13 16 28 7 13 13 26 18 16 20

18

45 44 39 24

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL SOUTH AFRICA TOTAL

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 32 One of the reasons for this difference in preference could be the cost of Jewish schooling, which seems to be more of a concern for some birthplace groups. This explanation is supported by the finding (Table 24) that 39% of Israel-born Jews indicated that the cost of school fees had prevented them from sending one or more of their children to a Jewish school – a similar percentage to Jews from Russian speaking countries but twice the proportion of Jews born in Australia or South Africa, and 15% higher than the average for Gen17 respondents.

Table 24: ‘Has the cost of school fees ever prevented you from sending one or more children to a Jewish day school in Australia?’, Gen17 (%)

GEN17 FEES PREVENTED SENDING CHILDREN TO JEWISH SCHOOL ISRAEL-BORN JEWS AVERAGE Yes 39 24 No 40 58 Not applicable/ Don’t know / Prefer not to say 21 19 N (unweighted) 504 8,621

Almost 60% of Israel-born parents who have children at Jewish schools indicated that the cost entailed ‘significant’ or ‘major’ financial sacrifices for their household, 7% higher than the Gen17 average and higher by a similar margin when compared to Australian or South African born Jews. Less than 5% of Israeli-born parents agreed that school fees were ‘well within your household’s financial capacity’, three times lower than either Australia-born, South Africa-born or the average for the Gen17 survey.

Figure 20: ‘Would you say the cost of sending your child/children to a Jewish day school is…’, Parents with children in a Jewish school by country of birth, Gen17 (N=988) (%)

IS WELL WITHIN HOUSEHOLD'S FINANCIAL CAPACITY/ REQUIRES SOME FINANCIAL SACRIFICES

ENTAILS SIGNIFICANT/ MAJOR FINANCIAL SACRIFICES 57 51 51 50 49 46 46

37

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL SA TOTAL

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 33 RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL

MAIN FINDING

A substantial majority of Israel-born Jews are Zionist, yet they are also more critical of Israel as a state and a society than other segments of the Jewish community.

KEY POINTS

1. The Gen17 survey indicates that Israel-born are the most Zionist, up-to-date and emotionally attached to the state of Israel within Australian Jewry. 2. At the same time, they are the most critical of Israel, its political system, its social tensions and treatment of minorities. 3. With regard to the conflict with the Palestinians, the proportion of Israel-born Jews aligned with left wing parties in Israel that support compromises with the Palestinians is the highest in the Jewish community.

VISITING AND POSSIBLY MOVING (BACK) TO ISRAEL Responses to Gen17 questions regarding Israel revealed a pattern of strong connection by Israel-born to their homeland. For example, Israel-born are ranked first within the Jewish community for agreeing with the statement that visiting Israel is ‘very important’ to own sense of Jewish identity. The frequency of visits to Israel by Israel born is the highest in the Jewish community, a higher proportion of Israel-born have visited Israel three or more times and more recently (1-2 years before the survey), mostly to see family and friends, spending relatively long periods of time there (between 1-4 months). Close to 3 out of 10 Israel-born, the highest percentage among Gen17 respondents, indicated that they would either ‘very likely’ or ‘fairly likely’ choose to live in Israel permanently in the future.

Table 25: Visits to Israel (importance, number, longest visit, last visits, reasons) and likelihood of choosing to live in Israel permanently - Israel-born and Gen17 total (%)

QUESTION RESPONSE ISRAEL-BORN GEN17 TOTAL How important or unimportant is visiting Israel to your own Very important 58 49 sense of Jewish identity? How many different times in your life have you visited Israel, if at all? If you were born in Israel, please relate your answer to Three or more times 80 64 the number of times you have returned to visit 1 month but less than 4 What was the longest time you spent in Israel at any one visit? 46 34 months When were you last in Israel? 2017 & 2016 50 27

To visit family 89 61 What have been your reason for visiting Israel? To visit friends 46 32 How likely is it that you will choose to live permanently in Israel Very likely / Fairly likely 28 12 in the future? N (unweighted) 504 8,621

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 34 In addition, the survey included questions that can be grouped into four different categories (Table 26): connection to Israel (and to Australia), diasporic transnational actions,38 perceptions of Israeli politics and society, and views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The first set of questions asked about affiliation and connection to Israel: whether respondents consider themselves as Zionists and how closely they keep up with events in Israel. For both question, Israel-born ranked first in terms of positive response, indicated by 76%, compared to Jews not born in Israel (70%-72%).

A question on sense of belonging to Australia enables comparison between homeland affiliation (Israel) and affiliation with Australia, the land of choice of the Israeli migrant. About two thirds (66%) of Israel-born indicated a ‘very strong’ or ‘quite strong’ sense of belonging in Australia, which is the lowest level for a birthplace group in the survey, almost 20% below the Gen17 average (87%).

Somewhat surprisingly, Israel-born ranked marginally below Jews born in South Africa and the Former Soviet Union indicating strong concern in response to a question that asked how they felt ‘if Israel is in danger’: the relative proportions indicating ‘I feel a special alarm’ or ‘as if my own life was in danger’ were Israel-born 80%, South African 83% and Former Soviet Union 83%. The level of concern of Israel-born is, however, very high and together with the responses already noted indicate a very strong connection and affiliation to Israel by Israel- born Jews in Australia.39

DIASPORIC TRANSNATIONAL ACTIONS In the second category, Gen17 questions engaged with perceived activities and feelings in relation to Israel. When participants were asked to respond to the statement ‘I feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that the State of Israel continues to exist’, a high percentage of Israel-born (86%) noted they either ‘strongly agree’ or ‘tend to agree’, a similar although slightly lower proportion than the average for the Gen17 sample, which was 90%.

When asked concerning the importance to their Jewish identity of visiting Israel, and separately, supporting Israel financially, Israel-born responses stood out. While the highest percentage of Israel-born (58%) considering visiting Israel ‘very important’ to their Jewish identity, a relatively low proportion saw financial support of Israel as important. Close to a half (47%), the lowest among the birthplace groups and far lower than the average for the Gen17 sample (65%), agreed that financial support for Israel was ‘very important’ or ‘fairly important’; an almost identical proportion (46%) considered financial support as ‘very unimportant’ or ‘fairly unimportant’.

38 Safran characterised diasporas by transnational actions of both those living inside and outside the homeland. He placed such actions on a continuum ranging from maintaining interest in the homeland, which dissipates into a vague memory of elders; through retention of homeland ethno-symbolism and identification with homeland language and/or religion; and at the end of the spectrum - visiting, investing or ‘returning’ to the homeland. See: William Safran (2009), “The Diaspora and the homeland: Reciprocities, transformations, and role reversals”. In: Transnationalism: Diasporas and the advent of a new (dis)order. Eliezer Ben Rafael and Yitzhak Sternberg (eds.). Leiden, Boston: Brill. pp. 76-79. 39 The same finding, of Israel-born being the most affiliated with Israel among Australian Jews, was recorded in the Gen08 survey a decade earlier. Then, as now, the filiative model may suggest an explanation for this finding. See Porat (2017), pp. 13-15.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 35 PERCEPTIONS OF ISRAELI POLITICS AND SOCIETY The third set of questions asked participants to indicate their opinion on issues concerning Israeli politics and society – democracy, corruption, treatment of minorities, and influence of Orthodox Jews. Most Israel-born, and in much higher proportion than the average for the Gen17 sample, agreed that there is too much corruption in Israel’s political system (71%), that in Israel is too influential (52%) and non- Jews suffer discrimination (52%). A higher proportion of Israel-born, almost one in four, are critical of Israel’s democracy, the highest proportion in the survey, yet that segment is a minority, with 70% in agreement that democracy is functioning well. (Figure 21)

Figure 21: Responses to the statement ‘Democracy in Israel is alive and well’, by country of birth, Gen17 (N=8,621) (%)

'TEND TO AGREE' AND 'STRONGLY AGREE' 'TEND TO DISAGREE' AND 'STRONGLY DISAGREE'

7 24 8 13 12 14 17

82 80 77 76 74 70 70

AUSTRALIA ISRAEL FSU SA UK USA TOTAL

VIEWS ON THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT Finally, issues related to the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were addressed by questions on whether Israel should give up territory in exchange for guarantees for peace; if control of the West Bank is vital for Israel’s security; and if the Israeli government should negotiate with Hamas to achieve peace.

Compared to other Australian Jews, Israel-born are more supportive of territorial compromise (53%, the highest in the survey) and much fewer consider control over the West Bank to be vital for Israel’s security: 50% agree that it is vital, 37% disagree, compared to an average of 22% of the Gen17 survey. With regard to negotiations with Hamas, more Israelis oppose the idea than support, yet neither opinion is held by a majority: 48% oppose negotiation, 38% agree, the highest proportion in the survey.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 36 Table 26: Perspectives on Israel, Israel-born and Gen17 average (%)

ISRAEL- GEN17 QUESTION RESPONSE RANK BORN AVERAGE (>200 RESPONDENTS)

Affiliation and connection to Israel

Sense of belonging to Australia ‘Very strong’ + ‘quite strong’ 66 87 Lowest

Consider yourself Zionist ‘Yes’ 76 72 1st

Keeping up with Israel ‘A lot’ + ‘quite a lot’ 76 70 1st

When international events put Israel ‘I feel a special alarm’ + ‘I feel as 80 77 3rd in danger, I feel if my own life is in danger’

Diasporic transnational actions

I feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that the State of Israel ‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 86 90 5th continues to exist How important is visiting Israel to ‘Very important’ 58 49 1st your own sense of Jewish identity? ‘Very important’ + ‘fairly 47 65 Lowest How important is supporting Israel important’ financially to your own sense of ‘Very important’ + ‘fairly Jewish identity? 46 31 1st important’

Israel as a democracy

Democracy in Israel is alive and well ‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 70 76 Lowest

Too much corruption in Israel’s ‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 71 46 1st political system Orthodox Judaism too influential in ‘Strongly agree’ 52 34 1st Israel’s society In Israel, non-Jews suffer ‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 52 35 1st discrimination

Political views

Israel should give up territory in ‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 53 41 1st exchange for guarantees of peace ‘Strongly disagree’ + ‘tend to with the Palestinians 37 46 Lowest disagree’

‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 50 60 Lowest Israeli control of the West Bank is vital for its security ‘Strongly disagree’ + ‘tend to 37 22 1st disagree’

‘Strongly agree’ + ‘tend to agree’ 38 30 1st Israel should negotiate with Hamas in its efforts to achieve peace ‘Strongly disagree’ + ‘tend to 48 54 Lowest disagree’

N (unweighted) 504 8,621

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 37 ‘TOUGH LOVE’ - UNDERSTANDING ISRAEL-BORN JEWS VIEWS ON ISRAEL It seems that no one in the Jewish community is more Zionist, connected and feels closer to Israel than Israel- born Jews; 86% agree that they ‘feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that the State of Israel continues to exist.’

At the same time, they are the most critical of Israeli democracy and its treatment of non-Jewish citizens when compared to other Australian Jews. They are more divided in their views on the importance of supporting Israel financially. With regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel-born are closer to the centre of the Israeli political map compared to other segments of the Australian Jewish community, who may be considered more to the right.

Viewed in a broad perspective, Israel-born Jews exhibit mixed feelings when it comes to their country of birth. It may be described as a type of ‘tough love’ where love towards Israel is also expressed by criticising it in areas where they think Israel should do better, or differently. Compared to the rest of the Jewish community, the views of Israel-born Jews may be described as less romantic and more hard-headed. This is no surprise considering the population sampled. Israeli Jews who emigrated to Australia have left their country of birth; they left for a range of reasons, but the motivation of some was a negative prognosis of Israel and its future.40

40 In my doctoral thesis I located a group among Ausraelis which I labelled ‘the desperate’, which expressed their bleak predictions of Israel future. See: Porat (2013), pp. 133-135.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 38 ANTISEMITISM

MAIN FINDING

Israel-born do not view antisemitism in Australia as a major problem.

KEY POINTS

1. A relatively low proportion of Israel-born Jews consider that antisemitism in Australia is a major problem. However, there has been a marked increase in the proportion of Israel- born who agree that antisemitism in Australia is a serious problem, from 23% of respondents in the Gen08 survey to 32% in Gen17. 2. This finding is obtained despite some 10% of Israeli-born, a similar percentage to the rest of the Jewish community, indicating that they have experienced antisemitic incidents, particularly verbal insult or harassment, either personally or as witnesses.

A relatively low proportion of Israel-born Jews consider that antisemitism in Australia is a major problem. While Israel-born Jews do not dismiss antisemitism as unimportant – slightly more than half (51%) agree that it is ‘very important’ to combat antisemitism, this percentage is the lowest for country of birth in the Gen17 survey and is 14% lower than the average for all respondents. However, there has been a marked increase in the proportion of Israel-born who agree that antisemitism in Australia is a serious problem, from 23% of respondents in the Gen08 survey to 32% in Gen17.

Figure 22: ‘In your opinion, how big a problem, if at all, is antisemitism in Australia today?’ Response: ‘A very big problem’ and ‘A fairly big problem’, Israel-born and Gen0841/Gen17 totals (%)

ISRAEL BORN TOTAL

45

39

32

23

GEN08 GEN17

NB: Gen08 question wording was ‘How serious would you say antisemitism is in Australia today?’ Response: ‘A very serious problem’ and ‘quite a serious problem’. Israel-born Gen08 (N=389), Israel-born Gen17 (N=504). Gen08 total (N=5,840) and Gen17 total (N=8,621)

41 Data source for Gen08 - Porat 2013, P. 124

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 39 On almost every marker regarding personal evaluation of the magnitude of antisemitism – in the media, in comments by others or online – the proportion of Israel-born Jews is approximately 10% lower than the Gen17 average in agreeing that it is a ‘very’ or ‘fairly big’ problem.

This finding is obtained despite some 10% of Israeli-born, a similar percentage to the rest of the Jewish community, indicating that they had experienced antisemitic incidents, particularly verbal insult or harassment, either personally or as witnesses.

Thus, while Israel-born report experiencing antisemitic incidents at equivalent levels to the rest of Australian Jewry, they view antisemitism in Australia as less acute than other members of the Jewish community.

Table 27: Selected questions on Antisemitism, Israel-born and Gen17 average (%)

QUESTION RESPONSE ISRAEL-BORN GEN17 TOTAL DIFFERENCE

‘Very important’ 51 65 -14 Combatting antisemitism ‘Fairly unimportant’ + ‘very unimportant’ 13 7 6

How big a problem, if at ‘A very big problem’ + ‘a fairly big problem’ 32 45 -13 all, is antisemitism in Australia today? ‘Not very big’ + ‘not a problem at all’ 62 52 10

‘A very big problem’ + ‘a fairly big problem’ 44 54 -10 Antisemitic reporting in the media ‘Not a problem at all’ 13 6 7

‘A very big problem’ + ‘a fairly big problem’ 28 35 -7 Antisemitic comments in discussions people have ‘Not a problem at all’ 17 10 7 Antisemitic comments on ‘A very big problem’ + ‘a fairly big problem’ 57 67 -10 the Internet/Social media

N (unweighted) 504 8,621

Figure 23: From what you have personally experienced, if at all, are the following a problem in Australia Today?’ Response: ‘A very big problem’, ‘A fairly big problem’, Israel-born and Gen17 total (%)

ISRAEL-BORN GEN17 TOTAL 67 57 54 45 44 35 32 28

H OW BIG A PROBLEM, IF A NTISEMITIC REPORTING A NTISEMITIC COMMENTS IN A NTISEMITIC COMMENTS AT ALL, IS ANTISEMITISM IN THE MEDIA DISCUSSIONS PEOPLE ON THE I NTERNET/SOCIAL IN A USTRALIA TODAY? HAVE MEDIA

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 40 METHODOLOGY

TERMS – ISRAELIS, ISRAEL-BORN, ISRAEL-BORN JEWS, AUSRAELIS In this report I have used the term Ausraeli and Ausraelis only when addressing the Israeli community in Australia in general. In all other instance, the report refers to the population as “Israel-born”, which is the characteristic of the population analysed in this report as recorded in the Australian censuses and the Gen08 and Gen17 surveys.

When addressing census data, I make a clear distinction between Israel-born in general as opposed to Israel- born Jews, which are the Australian residents who indicated both that they were born in Israel and choose ‘Judaism’ as their religion.

In the Gen08 and Gen17 surveys of the Australian Jewish community, Israel-born respondents were exclusively Israel-born Jews.

EXTERNAL VALIDATION - GEN17 AND THE 2016 CENSUS The best current data source on the Israel-born Jewish population in Australia is the 2016 Census.42 The census was used to determine the extent to which the Gen17 Israel-born sample is representative of the Israel-born Jewish population. The achieved sample of 504 Israel-born respondents was found to be representative of Israel-born Jews in Australia.

For Israel-born Jews three variables – state of residence, age distribution and year of arrival – were compared for the Gen17 sample and the 2016 Census and the differences were found to be small, in almost all cases less than 5%. The main exception was the gender ratio, with women overrepresented by 10% in Gen17 (55%) compared to their percentage in the census (45%).

Table 28: 2016 Census (Israel-born Jews) and Gen17 (Israel-born) – selected categories (%), with Gen17 sample weighted using ‘Weight IsraelBorn’ to correctly represent gender ratios

(A) State of residence

STATE NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT ACT N 2016 Census 34.3 50.0 6.6 1.7 6.0 0.2 0.1 0.9 6,089 Gen17 36.9 49.4 3.7 2.4 5.7 0.2 0 1.6 505 Difference 2.6 -0.6 -2.9 0.7 -0.3 0.0 -0.1 0.7 (Gen17 – 2016 Census)

42 Following doubts raised about its reliability, a report issued on June 2017 by the Independent Assurance Panel nominated by the Australian government to provide assurance and transparency of 2016 Census data quality concluded that ‘2016 Census data is fit-for-purpose and can be used with confidence’ - Harding, S,. Jackson Pulver, L., McDonald, P., Morrison, P., Trewin, D., Voss, A. ‘Report on the quality of 2016 Census data’, (June 2017), pp. iii. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/Home/Independent+Assurance+Panel

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 41 (B) Age distribution

DIFFERENCE (GEN17 – GEN17 2016 CENSUS AGE 2016 CENSUS) MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE 20-24 5.1 2.7 3.2 4.6 2.0 -1.9 25-29 4.0 5.0 5.4 5.2 -1.4 -0.2 30-34 5.9 13.1 10.8 10.0 -5.0 3.1 35-39 15.1 12.2 15.1 15.4 0.0 -3.2 40-44 15.1 18.6 16.9 15.6 -1.8 2.9 45-49 9.2 14.5 10.5 10.1 -1.4 4.4 50-54 7.7 6.3 8.0 7.5 -0.3 -1.1 55-59 5.9 5.9 6.5 7.1 -0.6 -1.2 60-64 8.8 8.6 7.6 7.8 1.2 0.8 65-69 16.5 8.6 8.7 9.0 7.9 -0.4 70-74 5.1 2.7 3.9 3.2 1.2 -0.5 75-79 0.7 0.9 1.7 1.8 -1.0 -0.9 80-84 0.7 0.0 0.9 1.4 -0.2 -1.4 85+ 0.0 0.9 0.6 1.3 -0.6 -0.4

N (unweighted) 272 221 2,760 2,212

(C) Year of arrival to Australia

1900- 1946- 1956- 1966- 1976- 1986- 1996- 2006- PERIOD N= 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

2016 Census 0.7 3.6 6.9 6.5 10.5 13.5 22.8 35.5 5777

Gen17 0.4 7.0 8.4 6.2 10.5 15.8 24.4 26.9 487 Difference (Gen17 – 2016 -0.3 3.4 -1.5 -0.3 0.0 -2.3 -1.6 -8.6 Census)

NB: Excludes the categories - 'Arrived 1 Jan 2016 - 9 August 2016', not stated and N/A

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 42 ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY When analysing Gen17 Israel-born sample by itself, and/or when comparing it to the Gen08 survey conducted a decade earlier, a weight (Weight_IsraelBorn) which addressed the misrepresentation of gender ratio in the sample was applied.

While analysing Israel-born Jews vis-à-vis the entire Jewish population as reflected in the Gen17 survey based on country of birth of the participant, a different weight was applied (Weight_CoB). This weight was created by Dr. David Graham, who led the Gen17 project together with Prof. Andrew Markus. It adjusts the relative weight attributed to each group based on country of birth in the database to make it compatible with its relative size within the general Jewish community of Australia according to the 2016 Census.43

In this report, Israel-born were compared to the groups of participants from the six countries with the largest number of respondents in the survey. These countries are: Australia, South Africa (SA), United Kingdom (UK), Russia/Former Soviet Union (FSU) and the United States (US). Limiting the comparison to these countries avoids possible analysis distortions of under-sampling which may occur when applying weights to countries with a small number of respondents.44

Table 29: Number of participants in Gen17 by country of birth (unweighted)

COUNTRY NUMBER Australia 4,515 South Africa 1,652 Israel 504 United Kingdom 396 Russian Federation/former USSR 230 United States of America 218 Hungary 142 New Zealand 116 Ukraine 109 Germany 101 Poland 96 Czechoslovakia 49 France 46 Canada 41 Zimbabwe 36 Romania 33 Other countries 337 Total 8,621

43 Dr. David Graham explains in the preliminary report on the findings of Gen17: ‘Weights have been applied to the final dataset in order to statistically adjust the data so that they more accurately reflect the known structure and distribution of Jews in Australia. … Weighting adjusts the actual data so that they align with a reliable baseline such as the census. Weights were created to adjust the survey data in line with 2016 Census results on age, sex, state, and country of birth’. Source: Graham and Markus (2018), p. 82. 44 Data science researcher and former Associate Professor at Monash University, Dr Michael Brand of Otzma Analytics noted that ‘The size of the sample definitely affects the noise: smaller sample means more noise’. Private correspondence with the author of this report, July 2020.

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 43 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ari, Lilach Lev and Uzi Rebhun (2010). American Israelis: Migration, Transnationalism, and Diasporic Identity, Leiden and Boston: Brill

Australian Bureau of Statistics. ‘Migration, Australia, 2016-17’ (27 July 2018)

Gold, Steven (2002). The Israeli Diaspora. Seattle: University of Washington Press

Graham, David and Andrew Markus (2018). Gen17 Australian Jewish Community Survey – Preliminary Findings, Monash University

Graham, David (2019). The Jewish Population of Australia – Key findings from the 2016 Census. JCA

Karan, Mark E. (2011). ‘Understanding and Forecasting Ethnolinguistic Vitality’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol.32 (2)

Li, W. (2009). Ethnoburb the new ethnic community in urban America, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press

Meir, Yehuda Ben (2007). ‘Israeli Public Opinion and the Second Lebanon War’. In Shlomo Brom and Meir Elram, eds, The Second Lebanon War: Strategic Perspectives (Institute for National Security Studies)

Noels, Kimberly, Kil, Halik Fang, Yang (2014). ‘Ethnolinguistic Orientation and Language Variation: Measuring and Archiving Ethnolinguistic Vitality, Attitudes, and Identity’, Language and Linguistics Compass, November, vol.8 (11)

Porat, Ran (2013). Ausraelis - the diasporic identity of Israelis in Australia. PhD thesis, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University

Porat, Ran (2017). ‘The Ausraelis: Israelis in Australia as a test case of distinctiveness vis-à-vis the Jewish diaspora’. Israel Affairs, vol. 24 (3)

Rubino, Antonia (2010). ‘Multilingualism in Australia - reflections on current and future research trends’, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, volume 33, number 2, Monash University Epress

Sabar, Naama (1996). Kibbutzniks in the Diaspora, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press

Safran, William (2009), ‘The Diaspora and the homeland: Reciprocities, transformations, and role reversals’. In: Transnationalism: Diasporas and the advent of a new (dis)order. Eliezer Ben Rafael and Yitzhak Sternberg (eds.). Leiden, Boston: Brill

Yordim in New York: Israeli) ” םידרוי וינב :קרוי תוינתא תוילארשי היווהכ לש םישגפמ' םינמדזמ ' ”.(Shoked, Moshe (1991 Megamot), Issue 33, 1991) מגמ תו .(Ethnicity as a 'One night stand' existence

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division (2017). ‘Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2017 revision’ (United Nations database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev.2017)

Gen17 Ausraeli Jews 44

MONASHMONASH AUSTRALIANAUSTRALIAN CENTRECENTRE FOR FOR JEWISHJEWISH CIVILISATION CIVILISATION

GEN17 AUSTRALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY SURVEY

JEWISH EDUCATION IN MELBOURNE

Building S,Building Caulfield S, Caulfieldcampus campus 900 Dandenong900 Dandenong Road Road Caulfield CaulfieldEast VIC East3145 VIC 3145 www.monash.edu/arts/acjcwww.monash.edu/arts/acjc