Just about all countries in the world have an immigration policy that is based on restricting numbers. Zionism encourages Israel to welcome home Jews and the marital partners.

Has that story been a success?

The current population level is around 9.2 million. Official stats released this week reveal that around 3.4 million people have left wherever and arrived in the Holy Land since the founding of the state in May 1948. One notable group was the “Russian Wave” of the early 1990s, as communism was in retreat. Many of these people went on to fill positions in the emerging high-tech sector, thus signaling the germination of the start-up nation concept.

This year, over 20,000 more have been added to the total so far, a 31% increase compared to 2020. Now that is quite significant. For many it means that corona has ‘pushed them over the edge”. Assumedly, the pandemic has forced them to assess the quality of their lives and what the future holds for their children.

Was corona the only or key issue? Well, that is for sociologists to answer. However, just consider this analysis as released by the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption:

…… the largest number of olim (immigrants) this year has been from Russia, with 5,075 immigrants arriving (which marks a 5% decrease from last year). 3,104 made Aliyah from the U.S.A. which is up 41% from the first nine months of 2020. Meanwhile, 2,819 olim have come from France (a 55% increase), 2,123 from Ukraine (4% increase), 780 from Belarus (69% increase), 633 from Argentina (46% increase), 490 from the United Kingdom (20% increase), 438 from Brazil (4% increase) and 373 from South Africa (56% increase). Finally, 1,589 have come from Ethiopia — compared with 285 immigrants the previous year.

J-Cube Communications

Wars in Ethiopia; Increased anti-semitism in various Western countries; An opportunity for a new life; All of these must be factors. It is at this point that it is worth recalling that the Hebrew word for moving to Israel is “aliyah”, which can be translated as ‘going up’.

What happens next for these people? Most move directly into neighbourhood housing. They receive rent stipends and income tax benefits. Those who wish to set up a business are provided with free mentoring hours through people like myself. I have also participated in numerous webinars this year on such schemes.

Are their integration issues? Of course. Do any go back? Yes, some. Just look at MIT professor Joshua Angrist, who is this year’s co-Nobel Prize winner for economics. He immigrated back in the 1990s, served in the army, started studying, but could not ‘make it happen’.

But he is one of few. The majority stay, enter the work force, bring their ideas and cultures and tastes, and have children. As any country would be, Israel is a better place for these thousands of annual arrivals. And that is why this year’s “Aliyah Week” has been celebrated louder than for a long time.