Late-life migration to Israel among older French immigrants is characterized by an 'ambivalent dynamic' in which strong emotional belonging and identity fulfilment coexist with persistent linguistic, social, and institutional challenges, suggesting that emotional belonging and everyday integration follow different trajectories in later life.
Key Findings
Results
Older French immigrants interpreted late-life migration to Israel as the fulfilment of a lifelong identity project centred on family, Jewish identity, and belonging.
Twelve participants were interviewed using an interpretative phenomenological approach.
Participants included ten women and two men aged 70 and older.
All participants had migrated to Israel (undertaken Aliyah) after the age of 65.
Migration was consistently framed as meaningful identity fulfilment rather than mere relocation or adaptation.
Results
Participants experienced persistent linguistic, social, and institutional challenges following migration, yet these did not diminish their strong sense of attachment to Israel.
Challenges were described as linguistic, social, and institutional in nature.
Despite these ongoing difficulties, participants maintained strong emotional attachment to Israel.
The coexistence of challenges and attachment was described as an 'ambivalent dynamic at the core of later-life Aliyah.'
This finding suggests disruption to familiar social worlds did not undermine overall sense of belonging.
Results
Emotional belonging and everyday integration appear to follow different trajectories in later life among older immigrants.
Participants showed strong emotional belonging even while facing incomplete everyday integration.
The study distinguishes between emotional belonging and practical/structural integration as separate dimensions of the migration experience.
This divergence contributes to a more nuanced understanding of 'identity return' among older immigrants.
The finding challenges frameworks that treat adaptation as a single unified process.
Results
The migration experience was shaped by the intersection of life-course trajectories, family relationships, and cultural identity rather than being reducible to motivations, challenges, or well-being as separate domains.
The study used interpretative phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews.
Analysis deliberately treated migration as a 'complex meaning-making process' rather than separating discrete domains.
Family relationships were identified as a central structuring element of the migration experience.
Jewish cultural identity was foundational to how participants made sense of their migration.
Discussion
The study frames late-life migration as a process of identity negotiation rather than simple adaptation or its absence.
This conceptual reframing is positioned as a contribution to the literature on ageing and migration.
The concept of 'identity return' is used to characterize the experience of older Jewish immigrants migrating to Israel.
The qualitative, phenomenological approach was chosen to capture subjective meaning-making processes.
The authors argue this framing offers a more nuanced understanding of late-life mobility.
Conclusions
The findings have implications for policymakers and practitioners supporting older immigrants, emphasizing the need to address structural barriers alongside continuity, belonging, and meaningful relationships.
The study explicitly identifies policy and practice implications.
Both structural barriers (linguistic, institutional) and psychosocial needs (belonging, meaningful relationships) are highlighted as requiring attention.
Continuity across the life course is identified as particularly important for older immigrant well-being.
The sample was specific to French Jewish immigrants undertaking Aliyah after age 65.
What This Means
This research explores what it is like for older French Jewish adults—all aged 70 or older—to move to Israel after the age of 65, a process known as 'Aliyah.' Through in-depth interviews with twelve participants, the researchers found that these moves were not simply about relocating in old age, but were deeply connected to lifelong feelings of Jewish identity and a desire to be close to family. Even though participants faced real and ongoing difficulties—including language barriers, navigating unfamiliar institutions, and rebuilding social lives—they still felt a strong emotional connection and sense of belonging to Israel. This combination of hardship and strong attachment is what the researchers describe as an 'ambivalent dynamic.'
One of the study's key insights is that feeling emotionally at home and actually integrating into daily life are two different things that can move at different speeds. Participants felt they belonged in Israel even when they were still struggling with practical aspects of life there. This challenges simpler ways of thinking about immigrant adaptation, which often assume that belonging and practical integration go hand in hand. The researchers argue that for older immigrants especially, migration is better understood as a process of renegotiating one's identity over a lifetime, rather than a straightforward adjustment to a new place.
This research suggests that programs and policies designed to help older immigrants need to address both practical challenges—like language support and navigating healthcare or bureaucracy—and deeper social and emotional needs, such as maintaining meaningful relationships and a sense of continuity with one's life story. The study focused specifically on French Jewish immigrants to Israel, so its findings may not apply directly to all older immigrant groups, but it offers valuable insights into how identity, belonging, and later-life migration intersect.
Adad J, Even-Zohar A. (2026). Late-Life Migration to Israel as an Ambivalent Process: Identity, Belonging, and Adaptation Among Older French Immigrants in Israel.. Journal of cross-cultural gerontology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-026-09599-4