‘We dachten allemaal als David Ben-Gurion in het begin’ De eerste Israëli’s in Nederland, 1950-1970

The phenomenon of Israeli emigration is part of an increasing trend of Israeli migration in the world at large, with Israelis seeking second citizenship in Europe as well. This is not a new trend. Jews, born in Europe and the Middle East settling in Mandatory Palestine/Israel, have moved abroad both before and since the inception of the State of Israel in 1948. Israeli Jews have been immigrating into the Netherlands since the 1950s. The arrival of the first Israelis forms the starting point for an analysis of the formation and development of a Dutch diaspora and a global Israeli diaspora. The presence of Israeli Jews in the Netherlands, a country with a longstanding history of Jewish presence and a diverse local Jewish community of which Israelis now comprise approximately 25 percent, provokes questions on their self-identification as having both a national Israeli identity and a global or diasporic Jewish identity, and their integration into local Jewish communities. My hypothesis, ultimately, is that Israelis form their own diaspora, exploring autonomously ways to express Jewish values and Israeli culture, while staying connected to Israel by the national news, family ties, the Hebrew language and transnational networks. I argue, however, that the presence of the first Israelis was mostly temporary and that relations between Dutch and Israeli Jews were not naturally established and reciprocal.