The Prime Minister's Office assessed the situation last Saturday night, following developments in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine, in which it was decided to prepare for a dramatic expansion of immigration from Russia to Israel. This is how Israel Hayom found out.
Due to the sensitive content of the meeting and the decisions made in it following the attempted Russian uprising, the ministers were asked not to comment on the issue at all, but the "Russian weakness" necessitated a recalculation of the course both in terms of security and on the issue of those entitled to immigrate in Russia, some 500,60 in number. Since the beginning of the fighting, about 100,<> people have immigrated from Russia so far, and it is now expected to expand the immigration to at least <>,<>.
Moshe Ben Simhon
This is a complicated operation. Israel claims that the situation of the Jewish Agency in Russia is still sensitive, and that since the legal proceedings against it are pending, the Russian authorities are monitoring every step, and therefore its ability to participate in bringing in the immigrants is limited. The Prime Minister's Office discussed this issue on Saturday night as well, and expressed its commitment to help Jewish institutions in Russia continue to function.
Meanwhile, arranging aliyah through the Nativ organization in Russia is also limited in scope, since the wait for an appointment there is currently eight months. That is why over the past two years, many thousands have chosen to arrange their status as immigrants only after arriving in Israel.
Shorten procedures
However, the lines for naturalization in Israel are long, and it seems that at this stage, Israel is still unable to meet the demand. For example, the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration has prepared for 40,2023 immigrants from Russia in 60, while already – within half the year – 20,40 eligible immigrants from Russia are here (<>,<> arrived this year and <>,<> last year).
New immigrants from Ukraine with Dr. Miriam Adelson, publisher of Israel Hayom, photo: Yossi Zeliger
In addition, about 500 more immigrants are expected to arrive from Russia in the coming month alone. The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration is preparing for the growing demand in order to provide an appropriate response to potential immigrants, but has not yet begun an official work process in the government.
A source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Israel Hayom that "Israel has the ability to absorb a large wave of aliyah, but we need to shorten the bureaucratic procedures and allow immigrants to arrange their status as quickly as possible. The centralized access points for immigrants, which the Ministry of Aliyah has closed, must be dealt with in order to deal with another urgent crisis – encouraging aliyah from France and the United States, where the crisis due to the drop in immigrant numbers is also dramatic.
"The reality today is that the lines in Moscow for the 'route' are so long that many people who are afraid to stay there come here with a tourist visa and without entitlement to immigrant conditions. Thus, a population of about 10,000 has been created here to date, who in the meantime are not entitled to an absorption basket or a studio, and cannot work."
"Don't say you didn't know"
Yair Smolyanov is the director of immigrant absorption at the Million Lobby, a non-profit organization that promotes the rights of 1.2 million Russian-speaking Israelis. "For many weeks, we repeatedly alerted government ministries," he says. "While we were telling them about the volatile situation in Russia, about the immigrants continuing to arrive here in large numbers, they explained to us that the war is 'only in Ukraine.'
Yair Smolyanov, Photo: None
"They cancelled the adjustment grant, the One Stop Shop stations (a comprehensive naturalization process under one roof, for those who do not have the time and ability to prove eligibility in their country of origin) they canceled, and the studios' problems were not solved – boasting that 'waiting lines are getting smaller and smaller' without solving the problem of teachers."
"In the coming months, tens of thousands more immigrants will arrive, and now we warn: Don't say you didn't know or didn't think. Immediately increase the budget for immigrant absorption and restore the rapid naturalization positions in Israel."
Long queues, low demand
At a meeting of the Knesset's Aliyah and Absorption Committee held last week, Netta Briskin-Peleg, director general of Nativ in the Prime Minister's Office, revealed data on demand for aliyah.
"According to the data in our embassies, we have not yet seen a trend of change in requests for aliyah to Israel, and in a few days we will be able to identify whether there is an increased demand for aliyah. The lines for immigration to Israel are already long in Russia, and we already have eight months of waiting for appointments in Moscow and St. Petersburg with 13,<> families."
The new immigrants arrive in Israel, photo: Yossi Zeliger
Keren Cohen-Gat, director of the Eurasia Department at the Foreign Ministry, referred to the many Jews who immigrated to Israel from Russia, obtained Israeli citizenship and returned to Russia despite the fighting. "There are more than 60,<> citizens in Russia with Israeli identity cards. We don't see an increased feature in requests to return to Israel, but as the situation worsens, the number of Israelis wishing to return to Israel will increase, and we are prepared for any scenario."
At the same time, efforts are already being made to enable an orderly process for immigrants to Israel. According to Ella Saban, Deputy Director General of Encouragement of Aliyah at the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, "We extended the service to immigrants from Russia at the emergency points until the end of June, according to the decision of the Minister of Aliyah and Integration. Demand in these centers is low, with very few Russian citizens, and almost no Ukrainian citizens coming there. From July, there will remain one point of emergency increase, which will be selected according to demand."
Saban concluded by noting that at the moment there is no change in the immigration mechanism, but that this is currently being examined.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us