Abstract
On July 5th, 1950, the Knesset unanimously passed the Law of Return which gives the Israeli citizenship to every Jews who want to immigrate to Israel. The Law of Return, criticized by some Human Right Organizations , symbolizes the legislative concretisation of the Zionist dream: the return and the redemption of the Jewish people in Eretz Israel. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, massive waves of immigration came from Europe after the Holocaust, North Africa and Middle East in the 50s and 60s and finally from the former Soviet Union after 1989. Those massive immigrations from different countries, continents and cultures represent a key challenge for the state. The government has to deal with different religious, social, economic and cultural backgrounds in order to integrate the new immigrants in the Israeli society and economy. Though, can only immigration explain the socio-economic cleavages in Israeli society?
