Israelis in Europe

16:00 – 16:30

Welcome Address

Volker Beck (Tikvah Institut)

16:30 – 18:00

Keynote*
Demography of Israeli Emigration: History of The Field and Assessment of Its Current State

Daniel Staetsky (Institute for Jewish Policy Research, UK)

Response:

Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg, S)

18:00

Dinner

08:30 – 09:30

Panel
Israelis Abroad: Sources, Definitions, Methods, Topics, Theories

Chair: Marcela Menachem (Charles University Prague, CZ)
Lecture: Uzi Rebhun (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, ISR)
Response: Andriana Kemp (Tel Aviv University, ISR)

09:30 – 09:45

Break

09:45 – 10:45

Panel
Israelis in Germany

Chair: Stefan Liebig (Freie Universität Berlin, D)

Ten Years Later: Changes and Continuities amongst the Israeli Immigrant Population in Germany

Dani Kranz (Tikvah Institut, D)

From Slow to Fast Symbolic Violence: Understanding Israeli Middle-Class Emigration in Times of Anti-Democratic Turn Through Habitus Misfit

Nora Meissner (Tel Aviv University, ISR)

Israelization as a Stabilizing Factor for Eroding Diaspora Communities? Impressions from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany

Olaf Glöckner (University of Potsdam, D)

10:45– 12:00

Panel
Israelis in West Europe

Chair: Daniel Staetsky (Institute for Jewish Policy Research, UK)

The Role of Israel in Constructing Transnational Identity among Jewish Migrants in Paris, Brussels, and Antwerp

Lilach Lev Ari (Oranim Academic College, ISR)

Assimilation? Withdrawal? Questions of Identity and Belonging after October 7th

Efrat Tzadik (Universite’ Catholique de Louvain, B)

Israelis as Lifestyle Migrants in Europe: Urban Belonging, Mobility, and Post-Conflict Ambivalence

Marcela Menachem (Charles University Prague, CZ)

Between Homeland and Lowlands: Israelis’ Place and Presence in Dutch Jewry, 1950-2025

Chana Zaccai (University of Amsterdam, NL)

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch

13:00 – 14:00

Panel
Israelis in South Europe

Chair: Hanna Nir (Uppsala University, S)

Privileged and Precarious: Tensions of Transnational Israeli Jewish Middle-Class Making in South Europe in Turbulent Times

Andriana Kemp (Tel Aviv University, ISR)

Fluid Identities and Diaspora: The Growing Israeli Community in Bulgaria

Ildiko Otova (New Bulgarian University, BG)

Privileged Refugees: Israeli Mothers Fleeing War and Creating Safe Spaces in Greece

Alice Gaya (University of Oxford, UK)

14:00 – 15:00

Panel*
Israelis in the Iberian Peninsula

Chair and Respondent: Aviad Moreno (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, ISR/University of Florida, USA)

Hesitant Steps Towards Institutionalization: Madrid’s New Israeli Community

Raanan Rein (Tel Aviv University, ISR/University of Florida, USA)

From Israel to Alentejo: The Making of Diasporic Spaces in Europe

Zohar Iancu (Universidade Católica Portugal, PT)

15:00 – 15:30

Break

15:30 – 16:15

Panel
Israelis in Scandinavian Countries

Chair: Lilach Lev Ari (Oranim Academic College, USA)

Identity, Homeland and Transformative Events: Diaspora Mobilisation among Jews and Israelis in Sweden

Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg, S)

Strategic Sampling for Variation in Small-Scale Minority Research: Studying Young Jews in Sweden

Hanna Nir (Uppsala University, S)

16:15 – 17:00

Plenary Roundtable*
Directions, Challenges, and Future Collaborations in the Study of Israelis in Europe

Chair: Uzi Rebhun (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, ISR)
Dani Kranz (Tikvah Institut, D),
Aviad Moreno (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, ISR/University of Florida, USA)
Isabell Schierenbeck (University of Gothenburg, S)
Daniel Staetsky (Institute for Jewish Policy Research, UK)

Stand des Programmes: 16. Februar 2026