Aliyah helps our national resiliency

(JNS) — Despite an expected cut of 10 percent to his ministry’s budget, Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer remains hopeful about the future of immigration to Israel.

“Aliyah is incredibly important to the future of Israel, and overall we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of immigration files opened since the Swords of Iron War began from many countries,” Sofer told JNS. “Aliyah builds the next chapter of our nation’s history, helps define our identity, and improves our national resiliency. We will continue to encourage and promote aliyah in any way that we can for whoever is eligible under the right of return.”  

Sofer said the budget reduction, due to be passed by Israel’s cabinet on March 17, was in line with the fact that the budgets for all ministries were being cut by varying amounts due to the cost of the Iron Swords War. 

“We’re going through a very long and difficult conflict and all of the ministries have been hit, but I don’t think that this will hamper our efforts,” he said. “We have created and built a lot of good programs to encourage immigration since this government took office and we will continue to do so and make the immigration process easier.”

Sofer spoke in a telephone interview with JNS from New Jersey, where he attended the Medex conference on Sunday, one of five major events in North America aimed at increasing aliyah. 

The Medex conference was organized by three Israeli ministries—Aliyah and Integration, Health and the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience—in partnership with Nefesh B’Nefesh to ease the immigration process of medical professionals to Israel. During the event, 79 doctors registered to make aliyah during the 2025 calendar year.

“We hope to see this number grow over the next year and in the future, as we had well over 200 doctors attend and show a strong interest,” Sofer said.

Sofer dispelled reports that his ministry was allocating more resources to Western countries than to other countries.

“We assist anyone who is allowed to immigrate to Israel in every way possible,” he insisted. “There is no special budget allocation for one country over the other. The reason there has been a decline in immigration from Russia and Ukraine is that people rushed to Israel during the beginning of the war in 2022 and 2023. Many of them have since returned, and that wave of immigration has slowed back to normal.” 

Sofer told JNS that the ministry was working hard to remove the roadblocks from professionals and students that previously have made immigrating difficult. “We’ve set up special programs for students to help smooth the process, allowing them to study in their native language in 27 different academic degrees spread over 16 different colleges and universities in Israel.

“In addition, together with eight other ministries as part of a joint project, we have implemented the licensing reform to remove one of the biggest roadblocks to immigration for professionals in various fields, including medicine. 

“A lot of the immigration process is also dependent on the various organizations involved with helping people immigrate and make aliyah, and we are working closely with each of them to encourage immigration as much as possible.”

Matan Ben Harush, an assistant to Sofer, told JNS that the ministry has initiated several projects under the minister’s directives which include the academic programs for students, the licensing reform initiative, additional rental subsidies in the Negev and Galilee, stipends, subsidies, licensing-approvals for doctors wishing to immigrate, a new comprehensive accompaniment system for each immigrant, and the ‘My Aliyah’ app that allows immigrants to have access to important information, stay in contact with a representative from the ministry and receive access to important tools that can assist their absorption.    

Kariv’s testimony

MK Gilad Kariv (Labor), who chairs the Knesset Committee of Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, told the committee on February 25 that the Aliyah and Integration Ministry’s budget decrease was attributed to a sharp decline in immigration files opened by people wishing to immigrate from Russia, Ukraine and Argentina. On the other hand, he said, there was a significant increase in immigration files opened in Western countries such as France and the UK.

“In 2024, a 31percent decrease was recorded in the number of new immigrants who came to Israel relative to the previous year. That is the figure that we need to bear in mind,” Kariv said. 

“Despite the fact that this was a war year, we need to give the immigrants a sense of security. There are gaps between the number of aliyah files and the immigrants who actually arrive. There is a worrying decrease in the number of aliyah files opened in the former Soviet Union states,” he added.

“Encouraging aliyah from Western states must not come at the expense of encouraging aliyah from the former Soviet Union. We have to change the numbers and ensure the fulfillment of the potential of the immigrants who opened files.”

Tair Rabukhin, who works as a strategy consultant for the Ministry of Finance’s Budget Department, alluded to three factors to explain why the budget was being downsized. 

“The ministry’s overall budget for 2025 is expected to stand at about NIS 1.6 billion, including a reduction of about NIS 160 million relative to the previous year,” Rabukhin said. “Part of the decrease was made from the decision on an across-the-board cutback in all the government ministries, and part of the budget was cut from needs that were relevant at the start of the Swords of Iron War.” 

Organizations involved in assisting immigration, including the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh, said they were not worried about the budget cuts. Yael Katsman, the vice president of public relations and communications for Nefesh B’Nefesh, told JNS: “We recognize that, during these challenging times, as we continue to face a war, there will be a need for adjusted government resources. We trust that the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration will effectively utilize their budget to achieve all of their goals and maintain the positive momentum they have built to date, with their various partners.” 

A spokesperson for the Jewish Agency noted that immigration from Russia was actually significantly higher in 2024 than in 2018 or 2019, before the Covid pandemic, with 19,479 immigrants coming from Russia in 2024, as compared to 10,707 in 2018 and 16,018 in 2019. With regard to Ukraine, that number was significantly lower in 2024, with only 1,002 people immigrating to Israel while 2018 saw 6,583 immigrants and 2019 saw 6,320 immigrants.