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The founding of the Hibbat Zion movement in the 1880s and the Zionist Organization in 1897 prompted waves of Aliyah (hebrew for “ascent” and in this context, Zionist immigration) to the Land of Israel. The first two waves of aliyah took place during the Ottoman period. The new immigrants established the first Moshava settlements and laid the foundations for labor organizations, communal settlements and the city of Tel Aviv. Many of them later became disenchanted and left.
In the years of the British Mandate, three more waves of immigrants arrived in the country, including halutzim (pioneers) and members of the bourgeoisie. They expanded both urban and rural settlements and paved the way for the future Israeli industrial sector, political system and culture.
