Imagine Israel, With a Population of 20 Million

In 1924, it was difficult to imagine that the Jewish people would have their own state. In 1944, the world was confronted with the reality of the Holocaust and the mass murder of 6 million Jews. In 1964, the KGB created the Palestinian Liberation Organization with Yassir Arafat at its helm to destroy the Jewish state that had a population of 2.5 million. By 1984, the population of Israel had grown to 4.2 million. In 2004, Israel boasted a population of 6.78 million, and in 2024, nearly 10 million.

Looking at these numbers, one can see how the Israeli population almost doubles every 20 years. Dreaming about a 20 million-strong Israeli society is not unrealistic. If we work hard and pray, it will be possible even before 2044. Aliyah – the return to Israel – is a difficult struggle in many ways, and for some people, it takes many long years to make it happen.

Look at Olga’s tears of joy! The whole family became Israeli citizens last week. Here’s their story – in 2017, Olga was deported from the Israeli border when they all tried to make Aliyah. Olga’s husband is Israeli, and they made all the possible mistakes in their Aliyah process.

In 1924, it was difficult to imagine that the Jewish people would have their own state. In 1944, the world was confronted with the reality of the Holocaust and the mass murder of 6 million Jews. In 1964, the KGB created the Palestinian Liberation Organization with Yassir Arafat at its helm to destroy the Jewish state that had a population of 2.5 million. By 1984, the population of Israel had grown to 4.2 million. In 2004, Israel boasted a population of 6.78 million, and in 2024, nearly 10 million.

Looking at these numbers, one can see how the Israeli population almost doubles every 20 years. Dreaming about a 20 million-strong Israeli society is not unrealistic. If we work hard and pray, it will be possible even before 2044. Aliyah – the return to Israel – is a difficult struggle in many ways, and for some people, it takes many long years to make it happen.

Look at Olga’s tears of joy! The whole family became Israeli citizens last week. Here’s their story – in 2017, Olga was deported from the Israeli border when they all tried to make Aliyah. Olga’s husband is Israeli, and they made all the possible mistakes in their Aliyah process.

Here’s Olga with our lawyer, Yadin Elam, who, after 7 years of litigation, delivered this victory to the family—they are all Israeli citizens today. No, the state of Israel didn’t compensate her lawyer fees or struggles for many years. Global Aliyah did – through the generous donations of those who love Israel. Would you join us and work towards this dream that Israel will have a 20 million population soon? Please help us to assist many who cannot make Aliyah without our help. Become a virtual family for those seeking to make Aliyah – support Global Aliyah today!

Albert & Heli

 

P.S. Often, people need more documents proving their eligibility for repatriation to Israel. Can one take a DNA test at Ancestry.com to prove they are Jewish? The Israeli government recognizes only those DNA tests performed with the authorization of the Israeli Family Court. This DNA examination is not intended to show some general connection to Jewish heritage for Aliyah to Israel but instead specifically prove that a person is related to an Israeli citizen or a known Jewish person. It’s crucial to understand that any other DNA result that will prove Jewish origins does not grant the right of a person to make Aliyah according to the Law of Return. Suppose the DNA test result confirms that the person is related to an Israeli or a known Jewish person. In that case, the court orders the Israeli Ministry of Interior to register the person as an Israeli citizen.
This coming year, we will expand our activities to include more people, as thousands who have the right to make Aliyah don’t have sufficient proof of eligibility for repatriation. We assist the applicants in submitting all the original documents to the Ministry of Interior, advise them on connecting to archives in synagogues, and verify and authorize the needed documents. Global Aliyah has the experience and necessary networks in Israel to help in this new situation.

Global Aliyah works to see the fulfillment of the Biblical promises of the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel, as mentioned in Ezekiel 36:24-27. As the wars and antisemitism have forced the Jews and their descendants to leave their countries of origin, hundreds of refugees don’t have the necessary documents to make Aliyah. Global Aliyah assists those who need official DNA tests and professional counseling.

Can one take a DNA Test at Ancestry.com to Prove They are Jewish?

global aliyah

 

Often, people need more documents proving their eligibility for repatriation to Israel. Can one take a DNA test at http://Ancestry.com to prove they are Jewish?

The Israeli government recognizes only those DNA tests performed with the authorization of the Israeli Family Court. This DNA examination is not intended to show some general connection to Jewish heritage for Aliyah to Israel but instead specifically prove that a person is related to an Israeli citizen or a known Jewish person. It’s crucial to understand that any other DNA result that will prove Jewish origins does not grant the right of a person to make Aliyah according to the Law of Return. Suppose the DNA Test result confirms that the person is related to an Israeli or a known Jewish person. In that case, the court orders the Israeli Ministry of Interior to register the person as an Israeli citizen.

We will expand our activities for more people as thousands who have the right to make Aliyah don’t have sufficient proof of eligibility for repatriation. We assist the applicants in submitting all the original documents to the Ministry of Interior, advise how to connect to archives in synagogues, and verify and authorize the needed documents. Global Aliyah has the experience and necessary networks globally and in Israel to help in this new situation.

Israel’s 2024 Repatriation Numbers

2024 Sees 42% Decrease in Repatriation to Israel

According to figures provided by the Jewish Agency, 23,183 new repatriates arrived in Israel from January to August 2024, marking a 42% decrease compared with the corresponding period last year. In total, 47,012 new repatriates arrived in Israel in 2023. In 2024, 14,514 new repatriates arrived from Russia, 693 repatriated to Israel from Ukraine, and 546 arrived from Belarus. From the beginning of 2024 until August, 2,446 people made Aliyah from Western countries, marking a 50% increase compared with the corresponding period last year; 1,456 arrived from France (a 76% increase from last year), and 433 arrived from the UK (55% increase). Since the beginning of 2024, 2,760 new repatriates have arrived from North America, Oceania, and South Africa, marking an 11% increase from the corresponding period last year; 2,202 new repatriates arrived from the United States, and 233 arrived from Canada. The number of new repatriates from South Africa dropped 10% in 2024 – 209 compared with 233 in the corresponding period last year. Repatriation from Oceania increased 20% in 2024 – with 116 new repatriates arriving so far this year, compared with 97 throughout the corresponding period last year.

https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/news/pressreleases/pages/press160924g.aspx#

 

Global Aliyah Helps Adopted Jewish Children

So far Global Aliyah has helped hundreds of Jewish people who didn’t have necessary documents to prove their Jewishness or had no money and needed assistance to prove their family relations by a DNA test. Now we have decided to help thousands who were told that they cannot make Aliyah because they were adopted by non-Jewish parents.

The real question is why would the Ministry of Interior claim that adoption of a Jew by non-Jews makes the adoptee less Jewish. This means that the Jewish children saved by Christian parents during the Holocaust – Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman, for example, who was raised as a Catholic by his rescuers – could face serious problems if they wanted to make Aliyah under the Law of Return. According to the Jewish law – the determining factor of Jewish identity for thousands of years – a person who is Jewish cannot become non-Jewish.

Attorney general Meni Mazuz told the Supreme Court in 2009 that adoption of a child by non-Jewish parents should not invalidate his right to make Aliyah to Israel, by virtue of his blood ties with Jewish people. Mazuz said that he preferred the legal interpretation by which adoption does not constitute religious conversion, and therefore the adoption process does not work to change the adopted child’s religion or biological affinity. In spite of that fact, the Ministry of Interior has denied the right of the adopted Jewish children or grandchildren to make Aliyah to this day. Our lawyers took this issue back to the Supreme Court.

Doctor Receives Deportation Order

global aliyah

Global Aliyah hired lawyers to revert a deportation order and we got the temporary residence for the young doctor for a year, fighting for their citizenship.

Here is the summary of the article published in Israel daily Yediot Ahronot (www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4938690,00.html):

Came to Israel as a part of Aliyah project

Dr. Siletsky, a 24-year-old Jew from the Ukraine, came with his wife to Israel as a part of a project to encourage doctors to work in Israel. Two months before they are expected to complete their internship at Rambam Hospital in Haifa and join the health system as part of “Masa”’s unique project, Dr. Igor Siletsky and his wife Dr. Valeria Siletska received a dramatic announcement from the Ministry of the Interior: they had found an old claim that Siletsky’s Jewish grandmother had baptized his aunt and mother.

Dr. Siletsky, 24, was educated as a secular Jew, underwent circumcision, and came to Israel for the first time in his youth as part of “Taglit -Birthright” program. He got married and about two years ago joined a program that encourages Jewish doctors from the former Soviet Union to repatriate to Israel, where the health care system is in dire need of doctors.

global aliyah

Igor and Valeria Siletsky

MOI denied repatriant status

Siletsky and his wife, both doctors, decided to join the project and repatriate to Israel. They received approval from the Israeli consulate in Ukraine and arrived to Israel about six months ago. However, they were recently summoned to the Interior Ministry office in Haifa and were told that their application for repatriant status had been denied – and they were required to leave immediately. The letter stated that even if they would appeal the decision they will not be able to stay in Israel, but must leave and start the process again in their country of origin.

MOI decides that grandmother is Christian

“When we arrived in Israel, we were told that there was a problem with my grandmother and my aunt,” said Igor. “We realized that it had nothing to do with us, and we continued to work at Haifa University and Rambam Hospital. Recently, two months before the course ended, we were informed that we will be deported, on the grounds that my grandmother converted to Christianity. It’s a total lie.”

It turns out that at the time, when they were filling out the application forms before immigrating to Israel, Igor’s grandmother wrote in the application form that she was devoid of religion, but his aunt had defined herself as an Russian Orthodox Christian. When the grandmother was asked for an explanation, she said that her aunt was baptized as a child. At some point the details were changed and the Interior Ministry decided that all – the grandmother, the aunt and Igor’s late mother – were Christian.

Has to prove that he is not a Christian

“Even if they baptized his mother, it is not enough to deprive him of the possibility of immigrating to Israel,” says Yadin Eilam, who represents them on behalf of Global Aliya. “According to the law he or his mother should have been active Christians in order to be denied their right of return. But his late mother was not Christian, she was Jewish in every respect.” “The state encouraged and provided them with airline tickets.”

Now it is up to Siletsky to prove that his late mother did not convert, but according to the deportation order he and his wife cannot stay here for the remaining two months to complete their studies. “It’s stupid,” said Igor. “They know that I am a Jew, and nowhere has anyone ever claimed that I am not Jewish, or that my mother was baptized, and now I suddenly have to prove that I am not a Christian, because of their mistake.”

MK Razvozov: absurd situation

Following Ynet’s publication, Knesset Member Yoel Razvozov (Yesh Atid Party) asked Absorption Minister Sofa Landver to instruct Nativ to exercise discretion in the case and appealed to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri to delay the deportation order until a final decision is reached.

“This is an absurd situation and it will be a great loss for the state and the health system that the couple will find themselves out of the country,” said MK Razvozov.

Global Aliyah helped the Siletskys to receive temporary residency for a year

93-Year-Old Begs to Live with His Wife

global aliyah

Long-time friends

M. and R. P. from Kiryat Gat know each other for over thirty years, but they are married four years. R. (76) has become a wife and a friend for widowed M. This fact does not hinder the Ministry of Interior to suspect that their marriage is fictitious.

M. has forgotten the life with two legs. He lost one leg in the II World War, seventy years ago. Despite his disability, he received the education in engineering. He became the head of a department at a factory in his hometown in Ukraine. He was an honored citizen.

R. worked as a bookkeeper at the same factory. She was not only a colleague for M., they were also neighbors – their gardens were next to each other.

We were family friends. M.’s wife was sick, she had to go through several difficult operations and she could not take care of their garden. Being their neighbor, I helped them to take care of their garden. M. in return helped me with shopping with his little car for the disabled,” tells R.

“Like relatives, we were so used to each other.  When M. and his wife left for Israel we continued to call each other regularly. Six years later M.’s wife passed away and M. was left alone.”

M. lives in Kiriyat Gat, he is the Second World War invalid. He was wounded four times and he got a concussion two times. He has a sugar diabetes and suffers from high blood pressure. Some years ago he became blind in one eye and his hearing has worsened dramatically.

 

Elderly couple wants to get married

“ I lived with my dear wife for sixty years,” tells M. “But when she passed away, I realized that I am like a lone wolf. It was physically difficult and emotionally unbearable. I called our old friend R. and she listened to my complaints. Since she also was alone, she understood me well. I invited her to Israel. When she arrived, we both realized that this is our destiny. Nevertheless, we decided not to be united immediately. R., being a law-abiding person left Israel after three months. I was longing after her very much and after half a year invited her back. In 2012 we went for the first time to the MOI to prolong R.’s visa.”

global aliyah

Mr. and Mrs. P.

As soon as the clerks in the MOI heard that the elderly couple wants to get married, R. received a deportation order to leave the country within two weeks.

“I have never broken any law. I cried, packed my bags and left,” tells R. “M. was so much looking after me, he himself came to me. While we lived in Ukraine, we registered our marriage in 2013. We lived as husband and wife. Once when I became ill, M. took care for me with such compassion.”

 

Struggles with MOI

According to M., he asked MOI several times to allow his wife to come to Israel, but he could not get even an appointment. “We have gone through all kind of things – once they deported me straight from Ben Gurion airport,” tells R.

Half a year ago she returned to Israel with a tourist visa. Global Aliyah heard about the struggles of the seventy-six-year-old wife and ninety-three-year old husband. Global Aliyah realized that the elderly couple couldn’t achieve the change of status for R. With the help of the lawyers’ they could gather all the necessary documents.

“Finally we had an appointment in the MOI. As if it is not enough that we are married for four years and visit each other, they interrogated us separately about what we are eating or breakfast and lunch, what kind of movies we watch together. Their final answer was that within two months they’d invite us to the additional meeting in the Jerusalem office. And after that, within one month the MOI will decide whether to give to R. a work visa. I was shocked. I do not know if at our age we have time to wait for these three months. Why would seventy-six-year-old R. need a work visa? It does not give her elementary rights, i.e. health insurance. For a person in her age, it equals with chasing her out of the country.”

M. wipes his tears and continues: “I have been always ashamed to ask for myself benefits from the government. Why should they take away the last happiness I have in my life. Why should they chase away the honest person who has helped a Jewish family? Why illegal immigrants have right to live in this country but a disabled Jew cannot to live with his wife? I beg the officials: honor the old soldier, do not make my last days miserable.”

Knesset Report

Important meeting in the Knesset

On January 18, 2016, Global Aliyah was at the Knesset and had an opportunity to present the situation of the tourists from Ukraine and from the former Soviet Union, who want to change their status inside Israel. We mentioned that Ukrainian Embassy had published in 2015 that there are 95,000 Ukrainian citizens in Israel legally and illegally. Here’s the report from that special meeting: 

Special Report

First - a great surprise came from the Knesset Research and Information Centre (KRIC), which had prepared a comprehensive research. According to their data, about 20% of annual Aliya (immigration to Israel) takes place within Israel, as eligible people arrive as tourists and change their status to Oleh Hadash (New Immigrant).

However, KRIC pointed out that Ministry of Interior had refused to give them answers about how much time it took for the eligible tourists to become citizens or how many people had started the process but had not yet received citizenship. Another issue that KRIC researchers pointed out was that the Ministry of Interior had not established procedure rules for the status change and no time frames for the procedure.

Former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Lia Shemtov, the Director of Global Aliyah thanked the representatives of the Jewish Agency, Nativ (Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry) and Ministry of Interior for the work they are doing. She pointed out that since about 20% of annual Aliya (approximately 6,000 people of the total 31,059) takes place within the borders of Israel, we need to be prepared to assist them. Today when eligible people arrive as tourists they suffer for many long months until they are able to prove their right to repatriation. They have no health insurance and no right to work.

Global Aliay logo

It is very strange that the existing Jewish organizations who are looking for potential immigrants all over the world do not see them under their noses in Israel. They are already here and they have all the rights to repatriate. These people don’t fit into any advanced repatriation program, which would allow them to receive help from organizations such as the Jewish Agency, or the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Moreover, the existing legislative framework - the laws and regulations, according to the representatives of the Ministry of Interior - are obsolete, or don’t exist at all, said Shemtov.

The meeting became a major confrontation because we had invited several families to the Knesset to witness about their sufferings.

This Knesset meeting was an important victory since the meeting was broadcasted and protocols are now available to the public. These facts that Ministry of Interior had refused to give answers to how much time it took for the eligible tourists to become citizens or how many people had started the process but had not yet received citizenship and that they had not established procedure rules for the status change and no time frames for the procedure are now published and this whole issue has become part of the Knesset agenda.

We will have next Knesset Committee session about reducing the complexity of the DNA testing to prove one’s Jewishness and we will press for solutions for those who have been waiting and who are destitute. The main point is that in the light of the growing anti-Semitism Israel must get ready to receive thousands of immigrants who will arrive as tourists.

We need to be prepared and ready in order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

 

Heartache and Heart Attack

The Elderly Couple Waited for Eight Months for an Answer

Mr. R.V. and Mrs. S.T. arrived to Israel as tourists and wished to change their status here. Mr. R.V. was born in 1937 and Mrs. S.T. in 1943. Their childhood was marred by the atrocities of war and now they were forced to relive them again in Ukraine. They were acquainted for many years and met on several events organized by the Jewish organization “Chesed”. After some time they decided to get married and they registered their marriage in June 2014. After arriving in Israel in April 2015 they applied for the change of status in the Ministry of Interior. They were interviewed by a consul in Nativ (the consular department that checks the documents) after which their case was transferred to the Ministry of Interior of Nazareth Ilit branch. The Nazareth Ilit branch decided that their marriage of 6 months was too fresh and forwarded the case to the Ministry of Interior main office in Jerusalem.

 Leah giving check Raphael Billadarsky  (waited 8 months & had heart attack- no coverage, 80,000 shek bill)
 Due to the stress Mrs. S.T. had a heart attack. Lia Shemtov is giving Mrs. S.T. a check on behalf of Global Aliyah.  

 

Stress leads to a heart attack

This elderly couple had been waiting for eight months for an answer and they grew more and more worried. The stress was too much for Mrs. S.T. and she had a heart attack. On November 2, 2015 she had the heart stent, but since she wasn’t Israeli citizen and didn’t have any health insurance, the hospital sent them an exorbitant bill that they will never be able to pay. But this wasn’t the end of the story: on December 8, 2015 Mrs. S.T. is admitted to the hospital with another heart attack. She is operated again and another stent was placed.  The hospital sent another exorbitant bill that they would never be able to pay - altogether more than $20,000 USD. In addition she needs medication on the daily basis.

 
Global Aliyah has stepped in to help. Mr. R.V. has received his citizenship. Mrs. S.T. Has to go through the gradual naturalization process that can last  for four to five years. She still does not have any health insurance.