How is the diaspora imagined and covered in the public and political discourse in Israel? What does Israel wish to achieve through diaspora engagement? And what implications may diaspora engagement have on the national community outside, as well as inside the nation state? These questions are at the heart of this book, taking Israel as an example of state-diaspora relations. Based on indepths interviews and further qualitative methods, this study analyzes current shifts in Israeli diaspora politics. Israel is acting in two directions: on the one hand focusing on return migration and developing an Israeli identity abroad, and on the other hand aiming at an identity formation in the diaspora without any mentioning of return. With its methodological and theoretical insights on national belonging, citizenship and nation state borders, this book is not only providing new perspectives in Jewish, diaspora and Israel studies, but also in the field of international migration and transnationalism.

born in Ramat Gan (Israel), received her PhD from the Graduate School for History and Sociology at Bielefeld University (Germany) and holds a Masters degree in International Migration and Ethnic Relations from Utrecht University (Netherlands). She has extensive international academic and professional experience in the field of migration, nationalism and identity formation.