The Ashkenazim

I had my first class meeting with Yael's "Israeli Politics and Society" course. We spoke about the Ashkenazim - Jews primarily from Eastern Europe, though it can apply to Jews from North America and Russia. The term literally means "German Jews."
In pre-state Israel, the majority of Jews who came to the region came from Russia, Poland, Hungary, and Germany. There were some Mizrahim (Jews from the Middle East, Spain, and Africa) living in the region prior to this who essentially never left (i.e., were left behind during Jewish exile).
So why did the Ashkenazi Jews want to come? Part of it was religious, certainly. Religious Jews longed to go back to the original homeland from which they were exiled. Orthodox Jews prayed three times a day facing Jerusalem. Many of the Jewish religious holidays focus on returning to the land.
But religious ideologies were not the only reason for desiring a Jewish state. The late nineteenth century saw the rise of nationalism. Empires were breaking up and nation-states being formed. Many Jews see "Jewish" as a nationality rather than or in addition to a religion. The age of nationalism gave Jews a mechanism through which to argue for their own state.
In this era of nationalism, many Jews were treated as a nation, not a religion. The rise of citizenship and emancipation gave Jews hope that they would finally be treated equally. But the Jews, even those that were officially citizens, were often seen as truly belonging to a different nation.
A third worry arose that fueled Zionist ideology - assimilation into European nations and secularism meant that the Jewish Diaspora was no longer held together by Orthodox religious practices. What was to hold the Jewish community together?
Modern Zionism predated the Holocaust, as did purposeful and ideologic immigration to the region. Pogroms (persecution involving store-burning, riots, murders) occurred in Poland, Russia, Hungary, and Germany before 1948. Jews fleeing from these regions to Israel were often sent back by the British Palestinian Mandate.
When they were allowed to come, they entered a region that was under Ottoman rule. Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian landlords owned land on which serfs worked and farmed. Ashkenazi Jews would purchase land from the landlords. With the socialist ideology prevalent in much of the early Israeli settlers, the Ashkenazim wanted to work the land themselves. It stemmed from an ideology of egalitarianism and justice, but turned out rather badly for the fellahin (poor farmers).
In the forties and fifties, Jewish arrivals to Israel adopted an ethos of new identity. They pushed an "Israeli identity" as opposed to the previous Diaspora identities. The Diaspora and Diaspora Jews were weak; therefore, Israel and Israeli Jews would be strong. People took on new names, learned a new language, took on new occupations.
Because the Ashkenazi Jews were the first to arrive and organized right away (before the state was officially formed, the community developed healthcare, a military, political parties), they had a strong political influence in the early days of the state. In many ways, this seems to exacerbate issues of racism or discrimination against Mizrahim and other, non-Ashkenazi communities.
The 1980s till today has seen nearly a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union. These Ashkenazi Jews generally do not take on a new identity, name, occupation, or language. Because the community is so large (especially the Russian immigrants), they are able to retain identities. Ideologically, many Jews feel that, as the country matures, they can hold onto their culture and still be Israeli. This has resulted in an interesting shift to multiculturalism and contributes to the secular nature of the society.
But the communities that were once the elite at the state's beginning now often face discrimination. Many of them could not find employment in their fields because there was not enough demand. Thick Russian accents and other indicators of "new arrival" status often result in poor treatment by Israelis who feel that the new arrivals from Russia are "less Israeli." For some Russian Israelis, this results in feelings of solidarity with Palestinian Israelis and other minority communities. But the majority of Ashkenazim tend to vote on the right, politically. This is partially because Israel - especially compared to Russia - is such a tiny country that Jews from Russia feel that Israel cannot afford to give up any of its land.