Ashkenazi Jews were first said to live in the
Land of Israel in the 11th century, according to 16th-century mystic
Rabbi Elijah of Chelm. Further evidence of Ashkenazi communities in the holy city comes in the form of
halakhic questions sent from Germany to Jerusalem during the second half of the 11th century. Additional Ashkenazim arrived to the region during the
Aliyah of the Tosafists in the thirteenth century. By the late-fourteenth century, the Ashkenazi population in Jerusalem had grown, and a yeshiva for them was established by
Isaac Asir HaTikvah. They prayed in the same synagogue as the Sephardim. Additional European Jews arrived in the 15th century, such as
Elijah of Ferrara. In the 18th century, Hasidim moved to Jerusalem, many led by
Judah HeHasid. A further wave of immigrants, known as
Perushim, arrived in the 19th century.
Modernity Jews of mixed background are increasingly common, partly because of intermarriage between
Ashkenazi and
Sephardi/
Mizrahi, and partly because many do not see such historic markers as relevant to their life experiences as Jews. The
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel is an honored leadership role given to a respected Ashkenazi rabbi. The Chief Rabbi may make determinations regarding matters of
halakha that affect the public and this position also has political overtones. Some religiously affiliated Ashkenazi Jews in Israel may be more likely to support certain religious interests in Israel, including certain political parties. These political parties result from the fact that a portion of the Israeli electorate votes for Jewish religious parties; although the electoral map changes from one election to another, there are generally several small parties associated with the interests of religious Ashkenazi Jews. The role of religious parties, including small religious parties that play important roles as coalition members, results in turn from Israel's composition as a complex society in which competing social, economic, and religious interests stand for election to the
Knesset, a
unicameral legislature with 120 seats. In 2018, 31.8% of Israeli Jews self-identified as Ashkenazi, excluding the 12.4% immigrants from the former USSR, a majority of whom self-identify as Ashkenazi. They have played a prominent role in the economy, media, and politics of Israel since its founding. During the first decades of Israel as a state, strong cultural conflict occurred between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews (mainly east European Ashkenazim). Sephardic groups were largely marginalized, dominated politically, culturally, and economically through Ashkenazi dominated institutions. Geographically, the two groups were separated, as Sephardic Jews were settled in peripheral "development towns" and frontier areas with limited resources. The roots of this conflict, which still exists to a much smaller extent in present-day Israeli society, are chiefly attributed to the concept of the "
melting pot". Sephardi language, traditions, and identities were suppressed in favor of Ashkenazi norms. That is to say, all Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel were strongly encouraged to "melt down" their own particular exilic identities within the general social "pot" in order to become Israeli. == Political trends ==