US’s ‘Great Recession’ is Boon For Immigration to Israel

[otohara]

Dramatic increase reported in N. American, W. European immigration over past year.

Jane and Steve Fried always wanted to make aliya. Steve, who had a very religious and Zionist upbringing, lived on a kibbutz during his college years and came back to Israel during the Yom Kippur War to offer his services.

Jane also had a strong desire to immigrate to Israel, especially after she fell in love with the country while on a trip with Steve.

However, the couple lived in Hollywood, Florida, for 30 years, where they raised their kids and prospered from their 19-year-old jewelry business.

“When you have a successful business, and the income keeps coming in, it’s hard to leave,” Steve Fried said on Monday.

But when America entered its “Great Recession” in 2007, jewelry sales fell, and the Frieds saw an opening.

“We did not move for financial reasons,” Jane Fried said. “We had enough money to come and live . It was that the economy gave us an opportunity to do what we had wanted to do for so long.”

The dip in the North American and Western European economies over the past year has led to a dramatic increase in immigration to Israel. For many, like the Frieds, the role-reversal between Western and Israeli economies has made people’s long-held desire to immigrate more of a reality.

Eric Gould, of the economics department at the Hebrew University, sees the Israeli economy’s relative position providing a nudge, rather than an incentive, for people to make aliya.

“I doubt people were going purely on economic reasons,” Gould said. “The economic prospects in New York are still better, but for those who were always thinking about it, in terms of timing, the economy situation could have influenced people’s decision to move now.”

The Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh have reported a dramatic increase in North American and Western European aliya over the past year. Even as theeconomic conditions in the US stabilize, Danny Oberman, who was promoted to executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh on Monday, said that “interest remains very strong.”http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=178005

[otohara]

1. Russian Jewish (people) Doing Same for Same Reason

Recession fuels rise in Russian aliyah

By Anna Rudnitskaya · June 3, 2010

MOSCOW (JTA) – Years after Russian immigration to Israel dipped and then plateaued, the global economic downturn appears to be sending it higher again.

Starting last year, aliyah from the former Soviet Union grew 21 percent over 2008, with 6,818 Russian-speaking immigrants moving to Israel in 2009. In the first four months of 2010, aliyah is up a further 22 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. In Russia alone, the rise has been slightly greater. Last year, 3,244 Russians moved to Israel compared with 2,605 in 2008, and this year's increase so far shows an even greater uptick: 905 in the first four months of 2010, an increase of about 25 percent over 2009.

Most observers attribute the rise to the global economic recession, which has prompted some Russian Jews to reconsider their future here. The recession has hit Russia harder than it has hit Israel.

Elena, 34, and Alexander, 40, a couple from Moscow who requested that their last name not be published, are planning to move by summer’s end. The downturn has had a dramatic effect on their unregistered family business in commercial manufacturing, they said, with their clients at a bare minimum since 2008.

“We understood there’s no way for us here and decided to make aliyah,” Elena said. “Actually, Alexander has wanted it for the last 10 years, and I was against it. But now I’m ready to admit I was wrong. It’s better for us and for our child to live in a more stable country.”

http://jta.org/news/article/2010/06/03/2739437/recession-fuels-rise-in-russian-aliyah

[no_hypocrisy]

2. More reasons to settled occupied land.