At the recent Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York City, Avichai Kahana, the Director General of the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration (Misrad HaKlita) announced that more than 100,000 Olim arrived in Israel over the past 17 months, representing the highest number in the last 30 years. The breakdown was 60,000+ from Russia, 20,000 from Ukraine and another 20,000 from all over the world.
Since the start of hostilities in Ukraine, the Aliyah and Integration Ministry has been working all out to process the extremely high numbers of Olim from Eastern Europe, and they project that they will be doing so for the foreseeable future. In addition the ministry is also developing initiatives to push Aliyah from the US and France, the two largest diaspora Jewish communities, with a special emphasis on young adults and young families as the minister believed that those age groups represent the best life stage to ensure a successful aliyah.
With organizations like Nefesh B’Nefesh focused on facilitating Aliyah from North America and Qualita on France and TELFED on South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Shivat Zion has stepped in to fill the service gaps and provides multilingual, culturally appropriate help to Olim from Western Europe and Latin America, representing a potential pool of Olim numbering around 1.3 million. There is still plenty of work to go around!
Source: Jerusalem Post