The concept of the common heritage and brotherhood of all Jews is central to Zionist ideology. And yet, the nascent state of Israel was dominated by a majority culture with its roots in Central and Eastern Europe. Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, the vast majority of whom arrived in the country after 1948, found that this society considered them poor and backward. Prominent Israeli politicians such as David Ben Gurion regularly referred to them as ‘primitive’, and it is clear from the sources that the state bureaucracy’s only desire was to integrate these Oriental Jews into the ‘modern’ and ‘European’ society that the newly independent country imagined itself to be. Distinguished by their own traditions, food, language, and often appearance, Israelis of Middle Eastern and North African origins were marginalised and subsumed by the hegemonic culture, with its emphasis on modernity. The concept of modernity in this society was heavily influenced by Western ideals. While modern consumerism first arose in the West, it rapidly spread across the world. Of course, there had always been consumption of various degrees in the eastern Mediterranean, but modern consumerism is a beast of the West and is wrapped up in issues of Western influence. The new and modern city of Tel Aviv was at the centre of this secular, modernising culture. However, it increasingly became divided into two halves: north Tel Aviv was entirely European in ethnicity and outlook, while south Tel Aviv and Jaffa were described as ‘Levantine’ – a synonym for ‘Arab’, and ‘backward’. Through a study of advertising and personal memoirs, this paper will explore the consumption patterns of this marginalised community during the first twenty years following independence, in order to understand both how they represented themselves, and how they were represented by the dominant group. Consumers use the meaning of the goods they consume to express cultural categories and principles, cultivate ideals, create and sustain lifestyles, construct their identity, and create social change. Through the lens of consumption, therefore, it is possible to trace the development of the social identity of Oriental Jews in Tel Aviv in reaction to and relationship with mainstream culture, and explore the creation of the Israeli identity we see today. As such, this look at the so-called fringe of society can give us a better understanding of the culture as a whole.