Immigration and the categorical welfare state in Israel

Immigration is an issue of growing relevance in welfare states. This article seeks to better understand the link between social welfare and immigration in Israel, a welfare state that has absorbed a greater proportion of immigrants than any other. Employing a conceptual framework that looks at both immigration policy and the structuring of the social welfare system, the article examines the impact of the Israeli system on the welfare of immigrants and members of other groups in society. The unique structuring of the social welfare system in Israel, described as categorical universalism, and its immigration policy are linked to what Sammy Smooha calls an "ethnic democracy."