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Dec. 22, 2006
Making Israel a home
Jewish Agency works for aliyah of choice.
RON FRIEDMAN
Everybody knows what you can do for Israel – I'm here to tell
you what Israel can do for you," Jewish Agency immigration
emissary Liane Sela told a Vancouver audience last week.
Sela, who is based in Toronto, was in Vancouver to promote immigration
to Israel (aliyah). She gave a talk Dec. 12 at the Jewish
Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. In it, she outlined the history
of immigration to Israel, from the beginning of the 20th century
to the recent waves in the 1990s. She noted that while everybody
knows about the big projects that the Jewish Agency (Sochnut)
undertook to bring Jews from places like Russia and Ethiopia, "nobody
talks about the fact that the same number of people that came from
Ethiopia during that time – about 60,000 – also came from
western countries [in] Europe and North America."
According to Sela, the agency aims to bring another million Jews
to Israel by 2020 and plans for a majority of them to come from
North America. The Jewish Agency, she said, is now making "aliyah
of choice" its primary focus – "moving from rescue
operations to promoting and facilitating the immigration of those
who choose to make Israel their home," as the agency's website
says.
The Jewish Agency was established by the World Zionist Organization
at the 16th Zionist Congress, on Aug. 11, 1929. It operates in close
to 80 countries on five continents through a network of more than
450 emissaries, including hundreds of formal and informal educators.
Its stated mission is to bring a substantial number of Jews to live
in Israel and ensure their successful integration.
"It used to be that people came to Israel out of pure Zionism,
a belief that it was the only place where one could live as a Jew,"
said Sela. "Today, people still come to live in Israel because
it is a place where they can live as Jews, but they also come because
Israel is a competitive option. It doesn't fall from other countries
like Australia, the United States and even Canada."
Sela made particular mention during her talk of the opportunities
available for young people in fields such as high-tech and research
and development.
"Twenty-five years ago, the motives for aliyah were a lot more
naïve and innocent," she said. "Today, people are
no longer naïve and the first question people ask themselves
is: 'What can Israel do for me?' The young people want to know what
they can study, where they can work, how much is the cost of living,
how long will it take to find a job and other questions of that
sort. For families, the first questions are about jobs. Even retired
people think along those lines."
In response to these concerns, the role of the agency is changing
from rescue missions to marketing. "One of the goals of the
Jewish Agency today is promotion – giving people positive information
about the possibility of making aliyah," said Sela.
This approach has produced results. The aliyah department of the
Jewish Agency is anticipating that by year's end, more than 3,000
Jews from the United States and Canada will have immigrated to Israel,
marking the highest aliyah from North America since 1983. According
to Jewish Agency statistics, most of those immigrants are under
the age of 35. The largest age group of immigrants, some 38 per
cent, is made up of young, single or married adults, between the
ages of 18 and 34, followed by children and teens under 18, at some
32 per cent. Approximately 17 per cent are between the ages of 35
and 54 and 13 per cent are 55 or over.
In her visit to Vancouver, Sela met with 10 people in person and
spoke to a similar number on the phone. Around 20 people attended
the meeting at the JCC – several of them at different stages
of the aliyah process. According to Sela, the Jewish Agency has
a list of around 70 families in Vancouver who are thinking of immigrating
to Israel.
"Many people are talking or thinking about making aliyah, but
it takes time," she said. "Canadians plan for 10 years
in advance."
Most of the concerns expressed by potential immigrants regard language
and jobs. "Not a single person has ever expressed concern over
the security situation," said Sela. "We know that it isn't
simple, we know that it is a big step – any move like that
would be difficult – but we want people to know that Israel
has solutions."
In the 1990s, Israel successfully absorbed a number of people equal
to 20 per cent of its population and, according to Jewish Agency
statistics, today, most of the olim (immigrants) will find
work within one year of making aliyah.
Ron Friedman is a student in the journalism master's degree
program at the University of British Columbia.
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