The Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, chaired by MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beitenu), last Wednesday heard a report that in 2024, despite the war and bureaucratic difficulties, 14,982 new immigrants came to Israel, including 10,628 Russian nationals.
But these figures were not cause for celebration for Committee Chair Forer, who stressed: “The statistics on immigration from Russia are very poor given the potential that can be reached from this country. There are unreasonable wait times for pre-Aliyah interviews that can last for about eight months; that doesn’t exist in any other country.”
The reason for the different treatment of Russian olim used to do with the fact that in the past, Russians who arrived in Israel, and received generous support packages, waited until they had been issued an Israeli passport and flew the coop to Europe and the Americas. But according to the foreign ministry’s Keren Cohen Gat, “There are enough people in Russia who are interested in making Aliyah. We are working to reduce the Aliyah promotions due to the diplomatic sensitivity between the two countries.”
This led Chairman Forer to complain that “There is a process here that indicates a deliberate policy to create a logjam that will reduce the number of immigrants from Russia to Israel. Immigrants in Western countries are given appointments for authorization of their Aliyah to Israel immediately, whereas immigrants from Russia are forced to wait for many months until setting an appointment. The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, as a policy, has decided that it is investing less money in the former Soviet Union states, and has shifted to investing funds in the Western states to encourage Aliyah. The Jewish Agency decided on a change of policy in financing airline tickets for new immigrants, and this makes it difficult for the new immigrants who now have to sign special declarations for financing the flights.”
Gennady Polischuk of the Nativ unit at the Prime Minister’s Office responded, saying, “In most of the branches in the former Soviet Union states, we have succeeded in reducing wait times for pre-Aliyah interviews. About 80% of applicants receive authorization for Aliyah to Israel, and between 4–5% are found ineligible to make Aliyah under the Law of Return.”
Shimon Shamila of the Jewish Agency said, “The Jewish Agency is doing all it can to bring as many immigrants as possible from Russia to Israel. We predict that the number of immigrants from Russia in 2024 will be between 18,000–24,000. Since the outbreak of the war, we have seen an increase of about 10% in young people who want to immigrate to Israel. The declaration by the immigrant for the application for financing an airline ticket for Aliyah is simple and non-invasive. Due to the increase in the costs of flights to Israel since the outbreak of the war, the immigrants fly to Israel on connecting flights to make Aliyah. One-third of the immigrants—large families, people with illnesses, and senior citizens—will continue to fly on direct flights.”
