Ofir Abu | Tel Hai College (original) (raw)
Peer-reviewed Articles by Ofir Abu
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2024
In this article, our focus is on examining intergenerational differences in attitudes toward the ... more In this article, our focus is on examining intergenerational differences in attitudes toward the police among Jewish Israelis of Ethiopian descent. Our quantitative analysis compares the results from our previous survey conducted in 2013 to those of a more recent study in 2022. Our analysis revealed three primary findings: 1. Levels of trust in the police have significantly decreased among Ethiopian Israelis and the majority group (non-Haredi Jewish Israelis). 2. In 2022, Ethiopian Israelis had lower trust in the police compared to the majority group, whereas in 2013, it was the opposite. 3. Younger Ethiopian Israelis (aged 18-30) have lower trust in the police than older community members. We used content analysis of media reports about Ethiopian-Israeli protesters to complement the quantitative analysis. According to our findings, the younger generation of Ethiopian Israelis believes that achieving full and meaningful citizenship will only be possible once institutional racism towards them by the police, as well as the state and society at large, has been eliminated. This is in contrast to the previous generations' expectation that their integration into Jewish society would reduce racialization and mistreatment by the police.
Iyunim Multidisciplinary Studies in Israeli and Modern Jewish Society, 2023
In this paper, we explore modern Haredi identity by focusing on the views of the new Haredi civic... more In this paper, we explore modern Haredi identity by focusing on the views of the new Haredi civic leadership in Israel (the homeland) on Jewish-American philanthropy (the diaspora). Drawing on ethnographic data, collected through interviews with 10 Haredi civic leaders and participant observation in a workshop that joined representatives of the two groups, we uncover the tensions which seem to constitute the symbolic boundaries of modern Haredi identity. One boundary relates to the dialectics of preservation and transformation: maintaining Haredi culture while pursuing a change in Haredi society in order to set it back on the right path. Another boundary refers to the dialectics of integration and distinction: the new Haredi civic leadership believes that Haredim can contribute to Israeli society as a whole but they should be able to do so while maintaining their Haredi values and Haredi way of life. The third boundary consists of the dialectics of differentiation and cooperation: The rejection of liberal Judaism (which Israeli Jews associate with American Jewry) alongside the willingness to cooperate with Jewish-American philanthropy. This study sheds new light on the issue of modern Haredi identity as it looks at how Haredi views of the diaspora serve identity construction processes in the Haredi society.
![Research paper thumbnail of Jewishness as Hegemony and Resource: Israel's Changing Citizenship Structure and the Regime Crisis [Hebrew]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/105038385/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Israeli Sociology, 2023
The public debate surrounding Israel's regime crisis has mainly focused on the attempt to overhau... more The public debate surrounding Israel's regime crisis has mainly focused on the attempt to overhaul the judicial system. While this is an important aspect of the debate, it remains on the surface without probing into the reshaping of Israel's citizenship regime in recent years. In this essay, I argue that Israel's regime crisis reflects a struggle around the content and boundaries of Israeli citizenship. Drawing on Knesset protocols dealing with the issue of prayer arrangements in the Kotel between 2013 and 2016, I show how ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) and national-religious politicians justify a citizenship regime in which Orthodox-religious Jews, considered by the state as "more Jewish", enjoy collective rights espoused by the state, whereas non-Orthodox and secular Jews, considered "less Jewish", enjoy collective rights that stem merely from their membership within the Jewish people. These politicians push for a judicial overhaul in order to formalize and legalize this hierarchic citizenship regime.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2022
Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse aro... more Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse around the homeland's collective identity. I illustrate this claim using the debate surrounding the Kotel Compromise, a government plan designed to regulate pluralistic and non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall (Kotel in Hebrew). This plan has recently become a subject of contention between the State of Israel, where Orthodox Judaism has an institutional monopoly, and Diaspora Jews, many of whom identify with non-Orthodox Jewish denominations, such as Reform and Conservative Judaism. Drawing on protocols of the Knesset (Israeli parliament), I show how the different participants in this debate used their perceptions of Diaspora Jews not only to reaffirm external boundaries relating to Jewish peoplehood but also to reconstruct internal boundaries relating to Judaism as a religion. This paper suggests that analyzing homeland perceptions of the diaspora can widen our understanding of the construction of homeland identities and boundaries.
Citizenship Studies, 2021
Minority groups striving for integration may support representation in state institutions as well... more Minority groups striving for integration may support representation in state institutions as well as recognition measures not as ends in themselves but only insofar as they believe that these reforms can advance their full integration into mainstream society. We illustrate this argument by focusing on perceptions about police reforms among Israeli Jews of Ethiopian descent, a racial minority. Drawing on data from public opinion surveys, focus groups, and interviews with community activists, our analysis indicates that Ethiopian Israelis support recruitment of co-ethnic officers (representation) and cultural sensitivity training of police officers (recognition) because they believe it could change police's attitudes and behaviors. However, they are also conscious of the downsides of these reforms as they might perpetuate their stigmatization as a distinct group that requires special accommodation. This paper suggests that successful integration strategies need to take into account how minority groups view their status within the state’s citizenship regime.
Israel Studies, 2019
Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on United States pre... more Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on United States pressure as the key factor that led Israel to change its attitude and adopt the global anti-trafficking norm. This article, instead, highlights the consistency of Israel's stand in the face of international pressure. Drawing on Knesset protocols, our analysis demonstrates that throughout the translation process, Israeli lawmakers unfailingly modified the anti-trafficking norm to make it compatible with the Zionist value of Jewish-only immigration. Although transnational advocacy networks urged states to view trafficking as a human rights abuse and to prioritize the protection of survivors, Israel chose a different path—it promoted a crime-fighting approach that emphasized the primacy of prosecution of traffickers and prevention of trafficking while marginalizing the protection of victims. When the United States and the UN began to advance a crime-fighting approach, congruence with local policies and practices emerged, but the protection of trafficking survivors remained a contested issue.
Ethnicities, 2017
Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate p... more Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate positive attitudes toward government authorities. We explore this trust–discrimination paradox by examining perceptions about police and policing among Ethiopian Jews in Israel, an immigrant racial minority. Drawing on data collected from focus groups and survey results, we find that levels of trust in the police among Israelis of Ethiopian descent are equal to or higher than among veteran Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, Ethiopian Israelis also report negative perceptions of the police that are rooted in strong feelings of stigmatization by these government agents. While trust in the police may reflect Ethiopian Jews’ desire for integration, participation, and inclusion as legitimate and equal members of nation and state, we demonstrate that they use various de-stigmatization strategies whose aim is to downplay the importance and depth of their discrimination by the police. These strategies, we argue, allow Ethiopian Israelis to maintain positive attitudes toward the police.
Book Chapters by Ofir Abu
![Research paper thumbnail of Reform Judaism and the Political Discourse around Israel's Collective Identity: The Case of the Kotel Compromise [Hebrew]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/96848192/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](The Reform Movement in Israel: Perspectives on Identity and Community, 2022
This article examines the political discourse around Israel's collective identity through the ima... more This article examines the political discourse around Israel's collective identity through the images and representations of Reform Judaism as seen in discussions around the Kotel Compromise – a plan designed to establish prayer arrangements at the Western Wall for the pluralistic and non-Orthodox streams in Judaism. The Kotel Compromise has been a continued source of tension between the State of Israel – where Orthodox Judaism has a monopoly over matters concerning the Jewish religion – and American Jews, most of whom identify with non-Orthodox Jewish streams such as Reform and Conservative Judaism. The perspectives on Reform Judaism in the discussions around the Kotel Compromise provide a glimpse into the internal debate surrounding Israel's collective identity, both between Israel and Diaspora Jewry, as well as between groups within Israeli society. Based on an analysis of the minutes of Knesset debates that dealt with the issue of the Kotel Compromise between 2013 and 2017, views on Reform Judaism reveal not only the boundaries of the communal identity of the participants in the debate but also the struggle between those seeking to demarcate Israel's Jewish identity within religious-orthodox boundaries and those seeking to preserve it as a national identity that allows room for Jewish religious pluralism. This article illustrates how views on liberal Judaism are a fruitful prism through which one can identify not only the work of the boundaries between Jews in Israel and Jews in the Diaspora and the boundary-work between groups within Israel but also changes in the nature of the dominant social forces within Israel.
![Research paper thumbnail of “Observing the Observer – The Myriad Meanings of the Diasporic Actor in Israel” [Hebrew]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/65019038/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Through Israeli Eyes: Images, Representations, and Boundaries of the Jewish World, Ofir Abu, Tanya Zion-Waldoks (eds.), Ben-Gurion University Press, pp. 13-42. , 2020
Elections in Israel 2009, 2011
Papers by Ofir Abu
העולם היהודי - מבטים מישראל: דימויים, ייצוגים וגבולות, 2020
Israel Studies
ABSTRACT:Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on Unit... more ABSTRACT:Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on United States pressure as the key factor that led Israel to change its attitude and adopt the global anti-trafficking norm. This article, instead, highlights the consistency of Israel's stand in the face of international pressure. Drawing on Knesset protocols, our analysis demonstrates that throughout the translation process, Israeli lawmakers unfailingly modified the anti-trafficking norm to make it compatible with the Zionist value of Jewishonly immigration. Although transnational advocacy networks urged states to view trafficking as a human rights abuse and to prioritize protection of survivors, Israel chose a different path—it promoted a crime-fighting approach that emphasized the primacy of prosecution of traffickers and prevention of trafficking while marginalizing protection of victims. When the United States and the UN began to advance a crime-fighting approach, congruence with local policies and practices emerged, but protection of trafficking survivors remained a contested issue.
Ethnicities, 2016
Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate p... more Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate positive attitudes toward government authorities. We explore this trust–discrimination paradox by examining perceptions about police and policing among Ethiopian Jews in Israel, an immigrant racial minority. Drawing on data collected from focus groups and survey results, we find that levels of trust in the police among Israelis of Ethiopian descent are equal to or higher than among veteran Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, Ethiopian Israelis also report negative perceptions of the police that are rooted in strong feelings of stigmatization by these government agents. While trust in the police may reflect Ethiopian Jews’ desire for integration, participation, and inclusion as legitimate and equal members of nation and state, we demonstrate that they use various de-stigmatization strategies whose aim is to downplay the importance and depth of their discrimination by the police. These strategies, we argue, allow Ethiopian Israelis to maintain positive attitudes toward the police.
Ethnicities, 2016
Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate p... more Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate positive attitudes toward government authorities. We explore this trust–discrimination paradox by examining perceptions about police and policing among Ethiopian Jews in Israel, an immigrant racial minority. Drawing on data collected from focus groups and survey results, we find that levels of trust in the police among Israelis of Ethiopian descent are equal to or higher than among veteran Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, Ethiopian Israelis also report negative perceptions of the police that are rooted in strong feelings of stigmatization by these government agents. While trust in the police may reflect Ethiopian Jews’ desire for integration, participation, and inclusion as legitimate and equal members of nation and state, we demonstrate that they use various de-stigmatization strategies whose aim is to downplay the importance and depth of their discrimination by the police. These strategies, we argue, allow Ethiopian Israelis to maintain positive attitudes toward the police.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2024
In this article, our focus is on examining intergenerational differences in attitudes toward the ... more In this article, our focus is on examining intergenerational differences in attitudes toward the police among Jewish Israelis of Ethiopian descent. Our quantitative analysis compares the results from our previous survey conducted in 2013 to those of a more recent study in 2022. Our analysis revealed three primary findings: 1. Levels of trust in the police have significantly decreased among Ethiopian Israelis and the majority group (non-Haredi Jewish Israelis). 2. In 2022, Ethiopian Israelis had lower trust in the police compared to the majority group, whereas in 2013, it was the opposite. 3. Younger Ethiopian Israelis (aged 18-30) have lower trust in the police than older community members. We used content analysis of media reports about Ethiopian-Israeli protesters to complement the quantitative analysis. According to our findings, the younger generation of Ethiopian Israelis believes that achieving full and meaningful citizenship will only be possible once institutional racism towards them by the police, as well as the state and society at large, has been eliminated. This is in contrast to the previous generations' expectation that their integration into Jewish society would reduce racialization and mistreatment by the police.
Iyunim Multidisciplinary Studies in Israeli and Modern Jewish Society, 2023
In this paper, we explore modern Haredi identity by focusing on the views of the new Haredi civic... more In this paper, we explore modern Haredi identity by focusing on the views of the new Haredi civic leadership in Israel (the homeland) on Jewish-American philanthropy (the diaspora). Drawing on ethnographic data, collected through interviews with 10 Haredi civic leaders and participant observation in a workshop that joined representatives of the two groups, we uncover the tensions which seem to constitute the symbolic boundaries of modern Haredi identity. One boundary relates to the dialectics of preservation and transformation: maintaining Haredi culture while pursuing a change in Haredi society in order to set it back on the right path. Another boundary refers to the dialectics of integration and distinction: the new Haredi civic leadership believes that Haredim can contribute to Israeli society as a whole but they should be able to do so while maintaining their Haredi values and Haredi way of life. The third boundary consists of the dialectics of differentiation and cooperation: The rejection of liberal Judaism (which Israeli Jews associate with American Jewry) alongside the willingness to cooperate with Jewish-American philanthropy. This study sheds new light on the issue of modern Haredi identity as it looks at how Haredi views of the diaspora serve identity construction processes in the Haredi society.
Israeli Sociology, 2023
The public debate surrounding Israel's regime crisis has mainly focused on the attempt to overhau... more The public debate surrounding Israel's regime crisis has mainly focused on the attempt to overhaul the judicial system. While this is an important aspect of the debate, it remains on the surface without probing into the reshaping of Israel's citizenship regime in recent years. In this essay, I argue that Israel's regime crisis reflects a struggle around the content and boundaries of Israeli citizenship. Drawing on Knesset protocols dealing with the issue of prayer arrangements in the Kotel between 2013 and 2016, I show how ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) and national-religious politicians justify a citizenship regime in which Orthodox-religious Jews, considered by the state as "more Jewish", enjoy collective rights espoused by the state, whereas non-Orthodox and secular Jews, considered "less Jewish", enjoy collective rights that stem merely from their membership within the Jewish people. These politicians push for a judicial overhaul in order to formalize and legalize this hierarchic citizenship regime.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2022
Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse aro... more Homeland-construed perceptions of the diaspora can yield valuable insights into the discourse around the homeland's collective identity. I illustrate this claim using the debate surrounding the Kotel Compromise, a government plan designed to regulate pluralistic and non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall (Kotel in Hebrew). This plan has recently become a subject of contention between the State of Israel, where Orthodox Judaism has an institutional monopoly, and Diaspora Jews, many of whom identify with non-Orthodox Jewish denominations, such as Reform and Conservative Judaism. Drawing on protocols of the Knesset (Israeli parliament), I show how the different participants in this debate used their perceptions of Diaspora Jews not only to reaffirm external boundaries relating to Jewish peoplehood but also to reconstruct internal boundaries relating to Judaism as a religion. This paper suggests that analyzing homeland perceptions of the diaspora can widen our understanding of the construction of homeland identities and boundaries.
Citizenship Studies, 2021
Minority groups striving for integration may support representation in state institutions as well... more Minority groups striving for integration may support representation in state institutions as well as recognition measures not as ends in themselves but only insofar as they believe that these reforms can advance their full integration into mainstream society. We illustrate this argument by focusing on perceptions about police reforms among Israeli Jews of Ethiopian descent, a racial minority. Drawing on data from public opinion surveys, focus groups, and interviews with community activists, our analysis indicates that Ethiopian Israelis support recruitment of co-ethnic officers (representation) and cultural sensitivity training of police officers (recognition) because they believe it could change police's attitudes and behaviors. However, they are also conscious of the downsides of these reforms as they might perpetuate their stigmatization as a distinct group that requires special accommodation. This paper suggests that successful integration strategies need to take into account how minority groups view their status within the state’s citizenship regime.
Israel Studies, 2019
Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on United States pre... more Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on United States pressure as the key factor that led Israel to change its attitude and adopt the global anti-trafficking norm. This article, instead, highlights the consistency of Israel's stand in the face of international pressure. Drawing on Knesset protocols, our analysis demonstrates that throughout the translation process, Israeli lawmakers unfailingly modified the anti-trafficking norm to make it compatible with the Zionist value of Jewish-only immigration. Although transnational advocacy networks urged states to view trafficking as a human rights abuse and to prioritize the protection of survivors, Israel chose a different path—it promoted a crime-fighting approach that emphasized the primacy of prosecution of traffickers and prevention of trafficking while marginalizing the protection of victims. When the United States and the UN began to advance a crime-fighting approach, congruence with local policies and practices emerged, but the protection of trafficking survivors remained a contested issue.
Ethnicities, 2017
Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate p... more Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate positive attitudes toward government authorities. We explore this trust–discrimination paradox by examining perceptions about police and policing among Ethiopian Jews in Israel, an immigrant racial minority. Drawing on data collected from focus groups and survey results, we find that levels of trust in the police among Israelis of Ethiopian descent are equal to or higher than among veteran Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, Ethiopian Israelis also report negative perceptions of the police that are rooted in strong feelings of stigmatization by these government agents. While trust in the police may reflect Ethiopian Jews’ desire for integration, participation, and inclusion as legitimate and equal members of nation and state, we demonstrate that they use various de-stigmatization strategies whose aim is to downplay the importance and depth of their discrimination by the police. These strategies, we argue, allow Ethiopian Israelis to maintain positive attitudes toward the police.
The Reform Movement in Israel: Perspectives on Identity and Community, 2022
This article examines the political discourse around Israel's collective identity through the ima... more This article examines the political discourse around Israel's collective identity through the images and representations of Reform Judaism as seen in discussions around the Kotel Compromise – a plan designed to establish prayer arrangements at the Western Wall for the pluralistic and non-Orthodox streams in Judaism. The Kotel Compromise has been a continued source of tension between the State of Israel – where Orthodox Judaism has a monopoly over matters concerning the Jewish religion – and American Jews, most of whom identify with non-Orthodox Jewish streams such as Reform and Conservative Judaism. The perspectives on Reform Judaism in the discussions around the Kotel Compromise provide a glimpse into the internal debate surrounding Israel's collective identity, both between Israel and Diaspora Jewry, as well as between groups within Israeli society. Based on an analysis of the minutes of Knesset debates that dealt with the issue of the Kotel Compromise between 2013 and 2017, views on Reform Judaism reveal not only the boundaries of the communal identity of the participants in the debate but also the struggle between those seeking to demarcate Israel's Jewish identity within religious-orthodox boundaries and those seeking to preserve it as a national identity that allows room for Jewish religious pluralism. This article illustrates how views on liberal Judaism are a fruitful prism through which one can identify not only the work of the boundaries between Jews in Israel and Jews in the Diaspora and the boundary-work between groups within Israel but also changes in the nature of the dominant social forces within Israel.
Through Israeli Eyes: Images, Representations, and Boundaries of the Jewish World, Ofir Abu, Tanya Zion-Waldoks (eds.), Ben-Gurion University Press, pp. 13-42. , 2020
Elections in Israel 2009, 2011
העולם היהודי - מבטים מישראל: דימויים, ייצוגים וגבולות, 2020
Israel Studies
ABSTRACT:Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on Unit... more ABSTRACT:Earlier studies on Israel's combat against human trafficking largely focused on United States pressure as the key factor that led Israel to change its attitude and adopt the global anti-trafficking norm. This article, instead, highlights the consistency of Israel's stand in the face of international pressure. Drawing on Knesset protocols, our analysis demonstrates that throughout the translation process, Israeli lawmakers unfailingly modified the anti-trafficking norm to make it compatible with the Zionist value of Jewishonly immigration. Although transnational advocacy networks urged states to view trafficking as a human rights abuse and to prioritize protection of survivors, Israel chose a different path—it promoted a crime-fighting approach that emphasized the primacy of prosecution of traffickers and prevention of trafficking while marginalizing protection of victims. When the United States and the UN began to advance a crime-fighting approach, congruence with local policies and practices emerged, but protection of trafficking survivors remained a contested issue.
Ethnicities, 2016
Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate p... more Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate positive attitudes toward government authorities. We explore this trust–discrimination paradox by examining perceptions about police and policing among Ethiopian Jews in Israel, an immigrant racial minority. Drawing on data collected from focus groups and survey results, we find that levels of trust in the police among Israelis of Ethiopian descent are equal to or higher than among veteran Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, Ethiopian Israelis also report negative perceptions of the police that are rooted in strong feelings of stigmatization by these government agents. While trust in the police may reflect Ethiopian Jews’ desire for integration, participation, and inclusion as legitimate and equal members of nation and state, we demonstrate that they use various de-stigmatization strategies whose aim is to downplay the importance and depth of their discrimination by the police. These strategies, we argue, allow Ethiopian Israelis to maintain positive attitudes toward the police.
Ethnicities, 2016
Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate p... more Immigrants who believe they suffer from stigmatization and discrimination may still demonstrate positive attitudes toward government authorities. We explore this trust–discrimination paradox by examining perceptions about police and policing among Ethiopian Jews in Israel, an immigrant racial minority. Drawing on data collected from focus groups and survey results, we find that levels of trust in the police among Israelis of Ethiopian descent are equal to or higher than among veteran Jewish Israelis. Nevertheless, Ethiopian Israelis also report negative perceptions of the police that are rooted in strong feelings of stigmatization by these government agents. While trust in the police may reflect Ethiopian Jews’ desire for integration, participation, and inclusion as legitimate and equal members of nation and state, we demonstrate that they use various de-stigmatization strategies whose aim is to downplay the importance and depth of their discrimination by the police. These strategies, we argue, allow Ethiopian Israelis to maintain positive attitudes toward the police.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2024