Title: Political economy of internal/external migration and skilled labour mobility within the Israeli labour market

Authors: Umut Koldaş

Addresses: Department of International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Cyprus International University, Haspolat Campus, Lefkosa via Mersin 10, Turkey

Abstract: As a society of immigrants, Israel has developed several strategies, norms and structures to integrate diverse immigrant groups into the various stages and processes of production. Each wave of immigration to Israel has taken place within a particular historical context and has been comprised of a different group of immigrants with their own distinctive socio-economic and cultural characteristics. The degree to which these skilled immigrants were successfully incorporated into the Israeli economy and labour market depended on a variety of local, national, regional and global dynamics. This article examines the changing dynamics of internal and external migration by providing an analysis of the historical evolution and current situation of five communities within the Israeli labour market, namely, Ethiopian Jews, Jews from the former Soviet Union (FSU), Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, non-citizen Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) and foreign workers.

Keywords: skilled labour mobility; immigration; Israel; ethnic groups; Ethiopian Jews; former Soviet Union; FSU; Palestinians; Israeli Arab citizens; political economy; internal migration; external migration; immigrant groups; skilled immigrants; foreign workers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2012.047084

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2012 Vol.8 No.4, pp.503 - 519

Published online: 14 Aug 2014 *

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