Patterns and Selectivities of Urban/Rural Migration in Israel

Uzi Rebhun, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
David L. Brown, Cornell University

We examine urban-rural migration in Israel. The paper develops from a descriptive comparison of urban and rural patterns of Jews and non-Jews; thereafter, due to the small number of non-Jewish migrants, it focuses solely on Jews, probing the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of migrants and non-migrants and differentiating among the latter by distance of migration. For those Jews who moved between localities, we asses the individual and area-contextual factors that affect migration between different types of localities. Findings on five-year migration from the 2008 Census show a strong tendency to change type of residence, often also involving a change of district of residence. These patterns of urban-rural migration emphasize the importance of specific individual characteristics and the implications of such movements in terms of commuting to work and homeownership. Insofar as migration between different types of localities involves long distances, they are also guided by job opportunities and religio-ethnic concentration.