Names of nondominant ethnic groups distinguish one group from another, but may also serve as an expression of uniqueness, self-pride, mobilizing myth, repressed identity, and derision. Changes in ethnic names reflect past or prospective changes in intergroup relations. These patterns are all evident in the group names of Israeli Jews whose origins are from the Islamic world, generally now referred to as Mizraḥim (Easterners or Orientals; sing. Mizraḥi).

Mizraḥi group names in Israel underwent two phases in accordance with the shift in Mizraḥi-Ashkenazi relations…