ABSTRACT
The massive immigration to Israel from the Soviet Union and its successor states has greatly influenced all spheres of Israeli society. First attempts to investigate this phenomenon have already been carried out, primarily on the demographic impact and economic and social absorption of these recent immigrants, while numerous newspaper articles have appeared after each political or ethnic conflict in which these immigrants, generally perceived as ‘Russians’, have been involved. The object of this chapter is to investigate the role, functions and significance of Russian language in the social life of this relatively closed community.
