Published: 9 June 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ORGANISATIONS PROMOTING and facilitating immigration to Israel are predicting a major spike in aliyah because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken a toll on Jewish communities around the world while sparing Israel for the most part.
But, based on figures for the first four months, 2020 could be the worst year for aliyah in nearly a decade.
According to data from the Jewish Agency, between January and April, 6,368 immigrants arrived in the country – a drop of 36 percent from the same period last year. April alone saw a record low influx of immigrants for any month, 350, a drop of 86 percent from last April.
This downturn has been attributed to the world health crisis, which has made it difficult to fly to Israel and has caused unusually long delays in the aliyah application and approval process.
FULL STORY Despite rosy projections, 2020 could be worst year for aliyah in nearly a decade (Haaretz)
Photo: Immigrants from Ethiopia arriving in Israel during the coronavirus crisis, spring 2020 (Avshalom Shoshani/Flash 90)
