With 100,000 olim in 17 months, aliyah to Israel at a 30-year high – panel

Since the beginning of 2022, over 100,000 new immigrants have moved to Israel, marking the highest number in three decades. The figures were revealed by Avichai Kahana, Director General at the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, during a panel at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference, which took place in New York on Monday.

The panel also featured Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Nefesh B’Nefesh, Laura Ben-David, Photographer & Marketing Consultant, who made Aliyah on the first Nefesh B’Nefesh charter flight in 2002, and Marc Cavaliere, Senior Vice President – The Americas, at El Aa Israel Airlines.

“Of the new olim, over 60,000 came from Russia, 20,000 from Ukraine, and another 20,000 from all over the world,” Kahana said.

Since 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh has been supporting Aliyah from North America.

“When we started, our focus was on a ‘micro-faciliation’ level, we wanted to remove as many obstacles as possible to make each person’s Aliyah dream come true,” Fass recalled. “ Then the next chapter of ‘macro-facilitation,’ began, addressing the government of Israel, institutions, communities and the army so we could leverage the human capital we brought to the country.”

Tony Gelbart (left) and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass (right) with President Isaac Herzog at the opening of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah Campus in Jerusalem on November 15, 2021. (credit: ELI DASSA)

The diverse range of people making aliyah to Israel

Over the course of the past 20 years, Nefesh B’Nefesh’s charter flights carrying olim – in partnership with El Al – have become one of the symbols of Aliyah – with dozens of individuals and families sharing the experience of traveling to Israel together.

“We do everything to take care of them in every perspective,” said Cavaliere. “Because our crew in the cabin is there to celebrate with them. Our staff have a tremendous sense of pride for contributing to welcoming new fellow citizens coming back to their homeland.”

Cavaliere highlighted that for El Al, delivering the best service to all its customers is a top priority, and even more so to olim, to ensure them a positive experience marking the very beginning of their life in Israel.

According to Fass, new immigrants from North America offer a very diverse picture, young and old, secular and religious, Orthodox and liberal, right-wing and left-wing. For example, about 70% of olim between 18 and 32 identify as “anything but Orthodox,” while 65 to 68% of the families identify as Orthodox.

“There is huge diversity among American olim, it is a beautiful tapestry, and on the flight you can meet every single type of Jew,” Fass said. “I just wish we could extend this experience of togetherness beyond the 13 hours of the flight.”

Ben David echoed his words.

“Being on that first flight was incredible,” she said. “We also have to remember that at that time, people in the US were not making Aliyah in high numbers. It felt like we were doing something really special and really important.”

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Aliyah and Integration Ministry has been working round-the-clock to support the extraordinary influx of olim from Eastern Europe – something that is planning on continuing doing in the next future. Many organizations, including Nefesh B’Nefesh, have offered important support.

At the same time, the ministry is working on initiatives to promote Aliyah from the US and France, the two biggest Diaspora communities.

“We want to encourage aliyah especially among young adults and young families,” Kahana said. “We see that these are the best phases for a successful aliyah.”