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At Large
Unseemly Exodus
Why are young Israelis moving to Berlin?
An AP story now going around the web is called “Young Israelis are moving to Berlin in droves.” It says:
Nobody knows exactly how many Israelis have moved [to Berlin] in recent years; unofficial estimates suggest 9,000 to 15,000…. The Israelis who come to stay are looking to work, study, party and make art, and don’t seem to care much about the Nazi past. They arrive on student visas, overstay tourist permits or have German or other European ancestry that entitles them to citizenship. Many start families with German partners, far from the tensions of the Middle East.
The article quotes some of these young Israeli “Ich bin ein Berliners,” from a 26-year-old photography student who says Germany’s past “doesn’t affect [her] at all” to a 32-year-old radio announcer who says that whenever she has “sustained conversation[s] with Germans… it is a sure thing that at some point we will talk about the Holocaust.”
Presumably those sustained conversations get interesting, considering that a report by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism describes Germany’s “anti-Zionist climate and… anti-Israel discourse” and cites a 2007 survey datum that “30 percent [of Germans] agreed strongly or partially that Israel’s attitude toward the Palestinians was in principle no different from that of the Nazis toward the Jews and that Israel was waging a war of extermination against the Palestinians.”
For these Berliner Israelis, it must be quite a trip discoursing with Germans who see Israelis as Nazis.
Yes, the young-Israelis-in-Berlin phenomenon is talked about in Israel, and yes, I relate to it judgmentally. Certainly Israelis and other Jews don’t have to boycott Germany, and shouldn’t blame the descendants of criminals for the crimes of their forebears. I have nothing against them going to Germany out of curiosity or for professional reasons. But for young Israelis to go to live there in any significant numbers constitutes a kind of failure. As the AP article notes: “Years ago, Israelis viewed emigration from their country as a betrayal of the Zionist cause, and moving to Germany was reviled as the worst betrayal of all.”
If the failure is one of education, then it can be remedied. Our current education minister, Gideon Saar, thinks too many young Israelis have become detached from the country’s core values, and is behind the launching of a new program in Israel’s schools this year called “Israel’s Culture and Tradition.” As the Jerusalem Post described it in a favorable editorial, it will “boost the amount of time devoted to the study of Jewish texts.”
In the Oslo era of the 1990s, much of Israel’s intellectual elite believed that cutting back the “national” content of Israeli education was connected to achieving peace with our neighbors. School curricula were changed accordingly. What this meant in practice was, for instance, that in 2000 a bitter controversy broke out over a nine-grade history textbook, A World of Changes, that was so “universalist” in emphasis that it gave scant attention to such subjects as Zionism, the Holocaust, and even Israel itself.
The young Israelis now in Berlin went to Israeli schools in that era. Can one say for sure that the one led to the other? No. But at least one can say that in earlier eras, before the “national” part of the curriculum was slashed, there was no such phenomenon as a steady runoff to the German capital.
To keep things in perspective, the overall picture of young Israelis’ values and devotion to their country remains good. Most serve in the army, stay in Israel, and start families. Rates of volunteering for combat units reached an all-time high this year. Still, we can do better, and there are damages from the Oslo era that still need to be repaired.
Minister Saar’s constructive approach is one of the reasons I hope our current governing coalition stays in power and doesn’t get rocked by dissension over the current talks with the Palestinians — yet another problematic legacy of the Oslo past.
About the Author
P. David Hornik is a writer and translator in Beersheva, Israel, blogging at PDavidHornik.typepad.com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (28) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 9.15.10 @ 7:30AM
Actually the same thing is happening in America, for the same reason. People who are totally ignorant of what their country stands for and why it is unique in the world -- and at least here in the West, are completely ignorant about the history of other countries, or think that people who are knowledgeable are *bigoted* or *racist* when they try to point out these things -- can be suckered by everybody who sounds passionate and sure of himself but may well be just as ignorant as the crowd he is addressing.
Ignorance is cureable. Militant Ignorance is stupidity and from that there is no appeal.
martin j smith| 9.15.10 @ 8:06AM
I would like to see some of our citizens in the US who hate this country also move to Berlin,London,Paris or wherever they wish. They are not contributing to our well being and I do not care if they are Nobel Prize Winners--Oh yeah that has decrease in value lately. Fir Israel, this departure might be a double edged sword. On the one hand as stated it reflects a need to change they way israelis are educated on the other you get rid of bad seed in the community. Israel being a very small nation does not need "Socialist Appeaser Types" undermining its survival.. So by all means look at the ducatio of the youth on the other look in same cases at the silver lining. You need diedicated citizenry to survive --now cowards or traitors or worse. In the US we arelearning that lesson.
James Walsh| 10.12.10 @ 4:26PM
What's it like to be a Nazi racist like you?
Doctor Right| 9.15.10 @ 8:17AM
I've always been a a strident supporter of the State of Israel.
But if younger Israelis don't feel the need to live and work in their own country, and are leaving "in droves", then perhaps it's time to rethink our position?
loulou| 9.15.10 @ 1:27PM
Do you mean to say that Israelis are not free to live where they wish?
Must they beg for your approval if they want to live in Germany?
Remember, before Hitler, Jews were allowed to flourish in Germany for centuries. Unlike Poland, Russia, etc.
Richard| 9.15.10 @ 3:58PM
I think what Dr. Right is trying to say is that if Nationalism is not strong in Israel then why do we here in the US put forth so much effort to mainain a strong Israel? A question to ponder but in the name of our national defense and reality, doubtful to happen.
loulou| 9.15.10 @ 6:40PM
I have to argue with your premise. We, in fact, do NOT put forth much effort to maintain a strong Israel.
To the contrary, we seem to be constantly trying to weaken Israel. Israel maintains a strong Israel.
Furthermore, we're expending much money and lives on behalf of the Arabs and Muslims. Yet they blackmail us. What is wrong with this picture?
Rick C.| 9.15.10 @ 8:33AM
To Dr. Right, the article says the majority of Israelis do stay in the country and are patriotic. It's a minority that leaves--too small a minority, but a minority.
Melvin| 9.15.10 @ 9:11AM
This trickle of migration back to Germany, might have more in common with bungee jumping, than Israeli or German nationalism.
It's the rush and the rebuttal of conventional thinking that the younger generations all over the world crave.
Conventional thinking, "What person in their right mind would jump off a precipice with rubber bands tied around their ankles to save them from sure death. But the same thing can be said about young Israelis going to Germany and staying. Conventional Israeli wisdom, what Jew in their right mind would want to leave the Jewish homeland and go to Germany?"
As those who survived the Holocaust grow fewer and fewer there is less of a direct connection to the succeeding generations of Israelis.
To younger Israelis to them the Holocaust was something that they read in the history books, but have no direct experience or knowledge of it.
Immigrating to Germany isn't that really big of deal and many want to experience the, "Rush," of going to the land that was not that long ago "Verboten."
Just another way of looking at this I guess.
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.15.10 @ 9:26AM
Doctor Right,
I appreciate your concern above, but the "Exodous" has always been part of the Israeli experience.
Sometimes I wonder why any Jewish folks stay there. God bless them.
If you get a chance, go over to the Ornery American and read Orson Scott Card's newest article...WOW!
RCV| 9.15.10 @ 12:09PM
I, too, am a strong supporter and defender of Israel. But I wouldn't be too harsh on the few Jews who choose to emigrate to Germany, the land of many of their forefathers. The contributions of Jews the world over to the societies they live in are positive and manifest. Hitler tried to "cleanse" Germany of one of its most positive influences. German Jews can and will be a positive influence in that country's future, just as they have in our own country's.
Louis Jenkins| 9.15.10 @ 9:49AM
Maybe they'll become a faster growing segment of Germany society than Muslims. Kind of doubt it.
Stan REdmond| 9.15.10 @ 10:42AM
What, no individual liberty for Israelis? I would like to see the cognitive dissonance if Israelis were moving to American cities "in droves."
MikeN| 9.15.10 @ 12:48PM
Maybe they heard Helen Thomas.
Margie| 9.15.10 @ 1:56PM
Ironic and pretty neat. Hitler tried "purging" Germany of the Jews. If some want to go there and flourish, let them! God works in mysterious ways. God bless them, they are free to live where they choose.
RCV| 9.15.10 @ 2:43PM
A robust "amen" to that!
KyMouse| 9.15.10 @ 4:57PM
Thanks for the interesting article, Mr. Hornik. Germany is a favorite destination of Jewish folks from Russia, too. In 1991, according to www.jewsforjesus.org, the Jewish population of Germany stood at 31,000 German-speaking Jews. Today, the population comprises around 230,000 Jewish people, and 200,000 of them are Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants who’ve arrived primarily during the past 15 years.
By the way, Jews for Jesus, whose headquarters is in San Francisco, has its German office in Essen, but volunteers are also based in Stuttgart, Berlin and Frankfurt. In 2005, I was a volunteer with the “Behold Your God” (Isaiah 40:9) witnessing campaign in Berlin. As campaign leader Avi Snyder noted, it was an amazing testimony of the reconciling power of Messiah’s cross to see Jews bringing the Gospel to Germans – to see Jewish and German believers standing side by side on Berlin streets, proclaiming the Good News together.
Margie| 9.15.10 @ 6:50PM
Should say Paleo-cons, not pale cons. Though to me they are pretty pale in comparison. Heh.
Margie| 9.15.10 @ 6:48PM
Awesome info as always, KY Mouse! Say, have you heard of this publication: Israel My Glory? The Sept/Oct issue has a write up the story of Richard Wurmbrand. And also has an eye opening article called "Replacement Theology: The Black Sheep of Christendom." It explains the Pale-cons hatred of Israel and Bible believing Christians who side with Israel.
It basically explains that they believe that God has replaced Israel with their church. They refuse to recognize Israel.
I guess this is why some of these guys in here hate me so much!! That's why they call me an "Israel-Firster." Eye opening stuff.
Tim*| 9.15.10 @ 10:12PM
“ In this Torah, which is Jesus himself, the abiding essence of what was inscribed on the stone tablets at Sinai is now written in living flesh, namely, the twofold commandment of love. . . . To imitate him, to follow him in discipleship, is therefore to keep Torah, which has been fulfilled in him once and for all. Thus the Sinai covenant is indeed superseded. But once what was provisional in it has been swept away, we see what is truly definitive in it. ”
—Joseph Ratzinger, Many Religions, One Covenant
Margie| 9.15.10 @ 10:32PM
Exhibit A.
Uh huh. So Timmy* You still haven't answered the question yet. Do you believe that your church replaces Israel?
kingofthenet| 9.19.10 @ 11:30PM
Maybe they want out before Iran Vaporizes Tel Avi? Seriously thou CONSTANT War get's tiring, these sound like 'bohemian' kids, artist and musicians and such, they want to produce their craft and NOT be part of the military/Industrial Complex.