Written by: Atman Errachid
Sami Shalom Chetrit’s Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel: White Jews, Black Jews opens a window into an overlooked aspect of Israeli society, the only majority Jewish society in the region: the deep divisions between Mizrahi Jews, who immigrated from Arab and Muslim countries, and Ashkenazi Jews, who came from Europe.
For many, the history of Israel is a story of national unity and resilience. However, Chetrit argues that beneath this narrative lies a much more complicated reality. His book focuses on how Mizrahi Jews fought for social and political equality in a society dominated by European ideals and norms.
Chetrit’s book takes an in-depth look at the political and social struggles of the Mizrahi Jews. He begins his exploration of this community, to which he himself belongs, with their arrival in the early years of Israel’s statehood. Their arrival was part of the “Zionist project” to populate the newly established state with a Jewish workforce. Ashkenazi leaders celebrated their inclusion in the “ingathering of the exiles.” In contrast, the Mizrahi community was often treated as second-class citizens and shared deep feelings of alienation.
The book successfully places this struggle in a broader historical and global context. Chetrit highlights key events within this struggle. One example is the “Wadi Salib” riots in 1952, which were ignited when Mizrahi—particularly Moroccan—residents in Haifa protested poor living conditions and systematic neglect by the state. He also examines the rise of the Israeli Black Panthers in the 1970s as a continuation and representation of Mizrahi frustration.
One of the strengths of this book is how it connects the Mizrahi struggle to other global movements. For example, Chetrit draws a parallel between Mizrahi Jewish and African American struggles. Both groups, he argues, faced economic and cultural oppression in societies that favored dominant groups: Ashkenazi Jews in Israel and white Americans in the United States. He explains how the Israeli Black Panthers deliberately chose their name to echo the American Black Panthers.
In this sense, Intra-Jewish Conflict in Israel is valuable for educators, students, and activists who want to understand how inequality operates within societies. Chetrit writes, “The Mizrahi resistance launched a long social and cultural process that changed the face of Israeli democracy […] Yet this was accompanied by a consolidation of power by the national right” (p. x). Through this, he captures the central tension of the book: the coexistence of progress and resistance.