Israel has seen a significant increase in interest in aliyah in the past few months, and that is great news. In actuality, however, there has been a decrease in aliyah throughout the past year for a wide range of reasons – mainly, of course, because of the Israel-Hamas War.
The Aliyah and Integration Ministry, in collaboration with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog, introduced a plan last week to boost aliyah by enhancing services for new immigrants before and after their arrival.
The plan came as a result of the sharp increase in antisemitism in the US and Europe since the war broke out on October 7, which has led to a dramatic rise in people registering for aliyah – a 300% rise in France compared to the parallel period a year before; a 100% rise in the US; 150% in Canada; and 40% in the UK.
Some organizations could promote aliyah
There are few, if any, organizations actually promoting aliyah to Israel. There are plenty that theoretically should or could be doing so, such as the Jewish Agency, Nefesh B’Nefesh, the World Zionist Organization, and so on.
The Jewish Agency, while under the leadership of Natan Sharansky at the time, decided to shift its focus and ideology to strengthening Jewish identity. Although this is important, it caused the situation where most of the agency’s emissaries today are not promoting aliyah.
These emissaries are funded mainly in the US but also in other countries by local Jewish communities as well as schools and foundations. The element of aliyah has, therefore, become sidelined and even scrapped entirely.
In addition, many countries with potential olim (Jewish immigrants) have few to no emissaries. Countries such as Germany, where the Jewish Agency is almost nonexistent, do not have the resources to encourage aliyah.
I am very supportive of the strengthening of one’s Jewish identity – but at the end of the day, who, if not these organizations, should encourage aliyah?
What it means to encourage someone to immigrate ideologically remains shrouded in controversy and argument. Many believe that it starts with education, while others find the priority to be shared history and experiences.
Historically, one of the leading centers for the promotion of aliyah was the Zionist youth movements. To this day, they remain central to this effort but are far less funded and, as such, are far less crucial to the aliyah effort than they once were. They are, therefore, far less able to send emissaries and produce content to reach a larger audience.
We cannot simply expect people to pick up and leave their country, their home, without understanding that Israel is central to one’s Jewish identity. We cannot expect people to make such a massive change to their lives without the deep desire to do so born out of ideological values.
Educating about aliyah can be through a number of mediums, whether it be summer camps, Jewish day schools, social media, and so on. But who is in charge of this central mission?
Organizations such as Nefesh B’Nefesh have done an incredible job in making aliyah to Israel more accessible and the bureaucracy more clear. They were able to minimize the amount of olim who then decided to return to their countries of origin.
NBN also branded aliyah as something cool, exciting, and inspirational.
At the end of the day, though, the people making aliyah came with a background or past experience that consequently made them interested in approaching the organization.
Israel and its national institutions must, now more than ever, invest in promoting aliyah – because Israel needs its olim chadashim (new immigrants).
As our editorial said this Sunday, make aliyah: We need you here.