Aliyah and the Waves of Immigration to Mandatory Palestine

Between 1882 and 1948, several waves of Jewish immigration, known as aliyot, transformed Ottoman and then Mandatory Palestine. The First Aliyah (from 1882), marked by the pioneers of the Bilu, and the Second Aliyah (from 1904), bearing socialist ideals, laid the foundations of the modern yishuv. Subsequent aliyot brought immigrants from varied backgrounds, including many Jews fleeing antisemitism and, after 1933, Nazism. Each wave brought its own ideological orientations, countries of origin, and settlement models, from agricultural colonies to new cities such as Tel Aviv. The immigration of Shoah survivors, often clandestine in the face of British restrictions, marked the final years of the Mandate. These aliyot profoundly shaped the demography, economy, and culture of the future State of Israel.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Jewish Virtual Library ↗