Israel – Home to Many

Israeli Circassians in their cultural dress in the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament).

At their community leaders’ request, since 1958, all male Circassians must complete the mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces. upon reaching the age of majority, while females do not. In this, they are equal to the Israeli Jews and the Israeli Druze populations living in the State of Israel proper (this excludes most of the Druze population living on the Golan Heights). The percentage of the army recruits among the Circassian community in Israel is particularly high. Many Circassians also serve in the Israel National Police, Israel Border Police, and the Israel Prison Service.

 

 

 

In 1976, the Circassian community won the right to maintain its own educational system separate from the Israeli government’s Department of Arab Affairs. As a result, the community manages its own separate educational system, which ensures that its culture is passed down to the younger generations. In 2011, a bill was passed by the Knesset to allocate NIS 680 million to the development of education, tourism, and infrastructure in Circassian and Druze villages

Circassian-language street sign in Israel

Although Circassians are loyal to Israel, serve in the IDF, and have “prospered” as part of Israel, while preserving their language and culture, for many Israeli Circassians, their primary loyalty remains toward their scattered nation with, for some, a desire to “gather all the Circassians in the same place, whether it’s autonomy, a republic within Russia, or a proper state” Influenced by the global movement of Circassian nationalism, some Israeli Circassians have returned to Russian-ruled Circassia despite the current political situation in the North Caucasus, much to the dismay of their Israeli Jewish neighbours who would rather they stay. Some Circassians who emigrated to Circassia have returned after becoming disillusioned with the low standard of living in the Circassian homeland, though some have stayed.

The Circassian community of Israel is concentrated almost entirely in the villages of Kfar Kama (population c. 3,000) and Rehaniya (population c. 1,000). In contrast to Circassian communities in other Middle Eastern countries, which have lost much of their traditions, Israeli Circassians have carefully preserved their culture. More than 90% of Circassians return to their villages after completing their military service and studies. Despite the difficulty of finding marriage partners within a community of 4,000, Israeli Circassians mostly shun intermarriage. Although some Arabs moved to Kfar Kama, they quickly integrated into local society, and left no lasting cultural impression. Intermarriage is widely regarded as a taboo there. Rehaniya absorbed larger numbers of internally displaced Arab refugees during the 1948 war, and as a result, intermarriage with non-Circassians, while still avoided for the most part, became more acceptable there