Category: Our Stories

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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.

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Christians help Ukrainian Jews to escape the war and Repatriate to Israel

Nataliya Krishanovski is part of a 20-person team of Christians who for years have been helping Ukrainian Jews repatriate to Israel because they believe doing so helps fulfill biblical prophecies and makes up for antisemitic persecution.
Krishanovski, who works in the Ukraine office of the Christians for Israel, said she has been driving Jewish families in the Kyiv region to rendezvous points from where other drivers take them to neighboring Moldova. She called the work meaningful on multiple levels, not least through “the look I see in the eyes of the families I bring,” she said in the interview, holding back tears. “Their eyes look like they have been delivered.” Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, the Christian Zionist organization has used connections and contingency plans they have spent years building to help hundreds of Ukrainian Jews leave the country — representing a significant portion of the thousands of Ukrainian Jews who have fled during the war so far. Read more:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/christians-help-hundreds-of-ukrainian-jews-escape-the-war-and-immigrate-to-israel/

 

Refugees that traveled 16 days from Odessa to Israel

 

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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#

 

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Rabbis need to preach Aliyah

Yshai Amichai:

“I think rabbis in America and in all the lands of our exile, should sell their homes and minimize their possessions, serving as an example to their congregants. They should start renting month-to-month instead and have their bags packed and ready to leave together with the last of their congregants. They should put up signs on their synagogues that read,

“In the process of relocating to Israel.””

 

Continue reading “Rabbis need to preach Aliyah”

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Jewish Agency estimates global crisis will spark mass return, floats 100,000 number

Chairman Isaac Herzog thinks up to 100,000 people will make Israel their home, either for their first or second time.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog expects that up to 100,000 people may leave their home countries for Israel, or make aliyah (literally “ascent”), once the current global health emergency is under control, Makor Rishon reported on Sunday
Herzog called for the government and aliyah-oriented groups to prepare for “a major wave of immigration to Israel when the corona crisis ends, as happened in the past after many crises in Jewish communities around the world since the establishment of the state. ”In many places, Jews have been especially hard-hit by the deadly COVID-19 virus, with infections and deaths far out of proportion to their percentage in the population.

In Great Britain, 335 Jews have accounted for 1.6 percent of the deaths so far, while consisting of only 0.37 percent of the population. In France, an article in Haaretz stated two weeks ago that “coronavirus-related deaths are reportedly four times the proportion for the overall population.”

In the United States, there seems to be no official breakdown by religious affiliation, but anecdotal evidence suggests many hundreds of deaths at least, as Jewish burial societies report being overwhelmed.

JTA reported in early April that New York City’s Department of Health released figures showing that heavily Jewish areas have especially high rates of infection. While the average positive test rate in the city was 53 percent, in Boro Park, for example, over 67 percent of tests came back positive. Aliyah inquiries

The Agency’s hopes are based on the number of inquiries they have received recently regarding the possibility of immigrating. The first group consists of 60,000 citizens who left the country years ago and have expressed an interest in returning as soon as possible.

The rest are people who have asked about making Israel their home for the first time, with the expectation that the 2020 figure would beat the decade-high number of 35,000 who immigrated in 2019.

Last month in the UK, for example, 500 people inquired about aliyah when the annual number of British immigrants is usually around 700. And in France, said Makor Rishon, some 1,000 families are currently preparing to come to Israel.

Israel’s well-publicized relative success in battling the pandemic is one reason for the high-level interest, said Herzog.

“In parallel to the global crisis, they look at the way Israel is functioning in the fight against the virus and see a strong country that is functioning well, comparatively, and I am receiving many reactions about it from all over the world,” he said.

Over a hundred new immigrants have actually landed in Israel in the past several weeks, in the midst of the health crisis, as a special exception to the general lockdown on travel. This number included 72 Ethiopians who have been waiting for years for permission to reunite with family in the Jewish state, but also 44 Americans ranging in age from infants to retirees.

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Not Without My Father

N is the teacher of math and physics. Israel has had always an essential place in her heart. For years N had dreamt and discussed with her family about moving to Israel. In fact, it would not have been such an incredible move – three of her aunts live in Haifa for years already. The plan would include the whole family – also elderly father and mother, retired academicians, physicists. Unfortunately, the dream never realized for mom – on 2011 she passed away. In 2016 M started to take more decisive steps and applied for Aliyah programs. At the beginning of 2017, she was contacted by Israeli consulate about the special program for teachers.

The fulfillment of the dream was within reach more than ever. N’s family presented all the documents for Aliyah; her elderly father applied separately as a widower of the daughter of a Jew. Consul said that the family has all the necessary documents to get permission for Aliyah, only the father will have difficulties. “He said that we must be prepared in case if my dad would be refused and that we should think whether we would go to Israel without him. I answered that I cannot leave my dad alone to Russia– he has difficulties to walk. The consul said that there might be an option to turn to the court in Israel,” tells N.

On the third consular check, all, except father received the visa for Aliyah, and they were told that there was no answer concerning him. N is determined: the whole family will move, also the father, not to mention the Welsh corgi, children’s beloved dog. The family arrived in Israel at the end of April and father came as a tourist. In Israel, N contacted lawyers immediately. The answer was that the status could be changed, but this would cost about five thousand dollars. N had never seen that amount of money. “I was prepared for a long battle – both financially and morally.” They had not sold their apartment in Moscow in a case of the worst scenario. But then N heard about organization Global Aliya and contacted them.

N’s father is a fine and lean elderly gentleman, a kind of person, who would not demand nor complain, willing to adapt to any condition. Though not Jewish himself, he has always been supporting his daughter’s love for Israel. While the family is facing different difficulties with the new beginnings, he has been on the encouraging side with her daughter. Just a small quietly said sentence “Israel does not want me,” betrays the hurt in his heart…

Mezhibovskaya

We are happy to tell that with Global Aliya’s help N’s father received in October Israeli citizenship.

 

 

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From Shocking Diagnose to Hope of New Life in a New Homeland

Shocking news and a surprising discovery

K’s family from Russia were shocked when the doctors said that their 15-year-old son Daniel has leukemia. Unexpectedly their life had radically changed – excruciating pains and the physician’s report that Russian doctors cannot help Daniel forced them to travel for treatments in Israel.
Daniel began to undergo intensive (and expensive) chemotherapy at the Sheba hospital in Tel Aviv and relatives and friends were mobilized to collect money for treatment. One of their appeals for help reached the Global Aliya and we decided to help them. When we contacted K, we found that her father was Jewish and that the whole family had the right to repatriate.

Ksenya
K and her son with their new Israeli ID

Fast results

Usually, the procedure for changing status in Israel lasts from three to four months from the moment all documents are submitted and are found to be correct. Since K and their son arrived in Israel for urgent treatments, not intending to repatriate, they did not have all the papers prepared.

Global Aliya succeeded in helping them to find all documents and formalize the change of status in one month. We were assisted by the lawyer Yadin Elam, who worked with the Ministry of Interior, and the Minister of Absorption, Sofa Landver, who achieved an expedited document check.

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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