Ben-Gurion: An Ashkenazi gangster, thief, pimp or murderer will not gain the sympathy of the Ashkenazi community (if there is such a thing), nor will he expect it. But in such a primate community as the Moroccans’ – such a thing is possible.
Abba Eban: The goal must be to instill in them a Western spirit, and not let them drag us into an unnatural Orient. One of the biggest fears is the danger that the large amount of immigrants of Mizrahi origin will force Israel to compare how cultured we are to our neighbors.
Arye Gelblum, Haaretz, April 22, 1949: This is a race unlike any we have seen before. The primitiveness of these people is unsurpassable. As a rule, they are only slightly more advanced than the Arabs, Negroes and Berbers in their countries!