ABSTRACT
The Jews in Eretz-Israel/Palestine: From Traditional Peripherality to Modern Centrality
Ruth Kark and Joseph B. Glass
Beginning with a brief consideration of the historiographical trends in the study of Jewry in Palestine in the nineteenth century, this article examines the position and role of the Jews of the Yishuv from the late Ottoman era and through the era of British mandatory rule. It looks at the relationship between the Jews of the Yishuv and Diaspora Jewry as well as with the Arab population in Palestine. It also considers the relationship between different groups within the Yishuv — the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews and the members of the Old Yishuv and those of the New Yishuv. It also analyzes the continuity and change between different generations of the New Yishuv. By placing all these relationships into their economic, cultural and political contexts the article highlights the many changes within the Yishuv in this timeframe, most notably the shift from Sephardi to Ashkenazi dominance and the economic development of Jewry in Palestine.
