Sabra (person)

Sabra (Hebrew: צבר‎‎, tzabar) is an informal slang term that refers to any Jew born on Israeli territory. The term first appeared in the 1930s, referring to Jews who had been born in Ottoman or Mandatory Palestine (cf. Old Yishuv).

The term alludes to a tenacious, thorny desert plant, known in English as prickly pear, with a thick skin that conceals a sweet, softer interior. The cactus is compared to Israeli Jews, who are supposedly tough on the outside, but delicate and sweet on the inside.

In 2010, over 4,000,000 Israeli Jews (70%) were sabras, with an even greater percentage of Israeli Jewish youths falling into this category. In 2015, about 75% of Israel's Jewish population was native-born.

According to the The Dictionary of Slang (Hebrew) by Israeli linguist Ruvik Rosenthal, Jewish immigrants to Palestine began using the term in the early 1930s. The term was used by the Zionist movement, to celebrate the "New Jew" that emerged in the Holy Land. Unlike the bourgeois "Old Jew" born in the diaspora, the "New Jew" was a kibbutz member or a farmer. The "Old Jew" often spoke broken Hebrew with a heavy accent, while the sabra spoke the language as a mother tongue. Unlike the "Old Jew" who did not fight for his self-defense, the Sabra fought in the Jewish resistance movements, in the Palmach and after the establishment of Israel in the Israel Defense Forces.

An important influence on the Sabra personality was considered the participation in national youth movements, (such as the Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, Hashomer Hatzair and Hatsofim) followed by the universal participation in military service for both sexes.

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