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The Neglected Zionists

Dr. Avi Picard

Approximately half of the residents of the Region of Revival (formerly known as the Gaza Envelope) live in Sderot, with a
population of some 35,000. Along with Ofakim, Netivot and Ashkelon, among others, these towns were founded in the 1950s to
house the hundreds of thousands of Sephardic immigrants then coming to Israel. Typically, these cities, known as ַחַּוּ ּ תּי ִּ פִּ תֹּוּרָי ֲעֲ
(development towns), have been overlooked and considered the periphery of Israeli society. In a 2018 article, Dr. Avi Picard
offered a fascinating new look at these towns and the critical role they have played in the Zionist story.

t the beginning of its journey, close to the populated areas of the coun- Many Israelis who worked in absorption
the Zionist movement had two try. The peripheral areas of the Negev and viewed these people as pioneers. Unwit-
main tasks: the immigration of central Galilee remained largely empty ting pioneers, perhaps, who did not choose
AJews to Israel, and the settle- of Jews. this mission, but pioneers fulfilling a
ment of the entire Land of Israel. In the The mass Aliyah from French North Africa, national mission nonetheless. Yehuda Ber-
first waves of Aliyah, when the immigrants mainly from Morocco and Tunisia, began ginsky, one of the heads of the absorption
were young people imbued with idealism, in 1954. At that time, a policy was adopted department [of the Jewish Agency], said
the connection between the two parts of that created a more direct link between of the Jews of North Africa: “We placed
the Zionist mission was obvious, with olim immigration and settlement – a “from a yoke of mitzvot on them... We told them
moving to new settlements all over the the ship to the village” policy. This policy to be pioneers.” On another occasion, he
Land of Israel. But as the Jewish national resulted in almost all immigrants from noted that North African Jews are an asset
home became more established and Israel North Africa being sent to the periphery, to Israeli society, due to their great contri-
became a place of refuge for Jews who to cities like Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot and bution to the settlement of the country.
were suffering and persecuted, the con- many more. The 1961 census indicates that The story of the development towns has
nection between these two ideals became immigrants from Morocco and Tunisia,
less natural. The suffering and persecuted who were 13% of the population in Israel, often been simplified, such as in a 2018
series Sallah, This is Israel, which paints
who arrived in Israel wanted peace and made up 50% of the Negev’s Jewish pop-
quiet, not additional tasks and challenges ulation but only 3% of the population of their story more negatively. He portrays
the development towns as a form of pun-
of settling new places. Indeed, many of the Tel Aviv. ishment imposed on the Jews of North
immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s – the
fourth and fifth Aliyot – settled in the big Life in the periphery, in the immigrant Africa in order to keep them away from
the veteran Ashkenazi immigrants, and
cities, rather than in the periphery of the settlements and the development towns tells the story as if everyone in Yerucham
land. in the north and south, contained many
challenges: employment difficulties, few just wanted to escape it. A television
In 1948, when the great immigration began opportunities for high-level education, and series is very powerful in its ability to tell
from the displaced persons camps, East- above all a negative image. Nevertheless, a story and create drama, but often does
ern Europe, Iraq and Yemen, they were those who chose to stay in these towns did so at the cost of deviations from the truth.
also settled in ma’abarot and refugee camps not feel that they were being punished. The director’s desire to create drama also

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