A sabra or tzabar (Hebrew: צַבָּר, plural: tzabarim) is an informal-turned-formal term that defines any Jew born in Israel. The term came into widespread use in the 1930s to refer to a Jew who had been born in the land of Israel (inclusive of the British Mandate of Palestine and Ottoman Palestine; cf. New Yishuv & Old Yishuv), though it may have appeared earlier. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Israelis have used the word to refer to a Jewish person born anywhere in the country
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.