APPENDIX THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN ISRAEL

Marina Niznik

More than a million Russian-speaking newcomers to Israel very soon learned to turn their numbers into political power, and to secure a government policy relatively favorable to the needs of their community. It is interesting to note that the Russian-speaking immigrants had no tradition of organized community activity in their country of origin. Despite this, within two decades they formed highly complex and diversified formal and informal institutions, both at local and national levels (Friedgut 2007). The Russian community in Israel is anything but homogenous. But among the few things its members have in common is their hesitant attitude towards the local culture, a certain cultural arrogance and the almost total lack of “melting intentions” (Niznik 2003). The former Soviet immigrants perceive themselves as the bearers of European culture in Israel. This is one reason, among others, for the fact that “Little Russia” (which includes Russian media, theaters, internet and other societal services) has become a salient phenomenon in Israeli societal life. I may characterize this “Little Russia” as follows:

(1) The Gesher (Bridge) Theater is one of the brightest and most famous examples of Russian cultural success in Israel. It was established by a group of immigrant artists in 1991 under the artistic management and direction of Yevgenii Arie. Gesher, however, is unique not only because it is popular both with Russian- and Hebrew-speaking audiences, but because of its attempt to span the gap between the two cultures. The actors perform in both Hebrew and Russian, and the playwrights are both Russian and Israeli. (2) The Russian media in Israel include a Russian Israeli TV channel, Channel 9, whose broadcasting started in 2003. Interestingly, Channel 9 provides Hebrew subtitles to many programs, thereby addressing not only Russian-speaking Israelis, but also Hebrew speakers. This new channel is a success story, and since it started to broadcast has doubled its rating (Adoni, Caspi and Cohen 2006). In Israel one can also watch Russian TV channels that broadcast from Russia. Thus, for example, 292 appendix the channel RTVI (Russian International channel broadcasting outside Russia) also has an Israeli section which broadcasts news and talk-shows targeting mainly an Israeli audience. In Israel one can also watch three additional Russian-language TV channels: ORT, RTR, NTV Mir broadcasting from Russia. (3) The Vesti newspaper, an Israeli newspaper in Russian, is the third most popular newspaper in Israel after Yediot Aharonot and Ma’ariv (two Hebrew newspapers), with a circulation of over 55,000 for its weekend edition (BBC News 2005). Israeli Russian media include two radio channels: Reka radio and the newer, privately owned, Pervoye radio which began broadcasting in 2002. Russian internet has flourished in the past ten years, generally in the form of various news and cultural sites. There are also numerous Russian-language youth sites that con- stantly appear and disappear. (4) The majority of those who came to Israel before the age of 12 have a high level of Hebrew proficiency and, in some cases, only a slight accent reveals their Russian origin. These people have a real choice between “being a Russian” or “being an Israeli.” In fact they have not two, but three choices—the third one is to function in both spheres. According to the Mutagim survey (2005) those who come to Israel as adolescents keep reading in Russian (83.4%), listening to Russian music, and watching Russian TV (52%). The situation changes dramatically with regard to those who immigrated in their early childhood. They tend to watch Hebrew TV and read in Hebrew, and listen mostly to English-language music (Niznik 2004). (5) Many youngsters spend their time in the various Russian coffee- houses and pubs. These gathering places serve not only for socializing, but also for meeting various Russian celebrities. Russian-speakers’ disco clubs constitute an integral part of young peoples’ lives. Russian music at these discos is not dominant, and the main difference from other discos in Israel is the atmosphere. (6) Ten thousand students currently attend Russian classes in junior- high and high-schools. About 95% of them were born in the former Soviet Union. Though most of them come from Russian-speaking families, there are substantial differences in their command of Russian. Numerous factors determine their Russian proficiency: the country of origin and date of immigration, family language practices, milieus, and practice of various domains of Russian culture. Few students of Russian who attend Russian classes in Israel speak normative Russian fluently. Many recent immigrants come from republics outside Russia itself, mainly from the Ukraine, where local languages have become