A sharp rise in immigration to Israel from Britain is revealed in the latest statistics published by the Jewish Agency’s Aliya and Absorption Department in London.
In the first seven months of this year, 435 people went to settle in Israel, compared with 277 in the same period of last year, a rise of 65 percent. The increase would have been even higher if it had included the 150 people going on aliya this month, the most for August since 1970. Moshe Yotvat, the Aliya department’s director, has no simple explanation for this significant increase, which coincides with the end of his own two-year tour of duty here.
He noted, however, that there has been a “complete change of atmosphere” towards aliya in the organized Jewish community. In a briefing in Israel before his appointment he had been warned that Aliya was “a dirty word” in Britain. Now, however, the aliya department was dealing with 3,000 to 4,000 serious inquiries a year.
The new atmosphere was also reflected in the community’s establishment of an umbrella organization, the National Aliya and Volunteer Council, which will have responsibility for all aspects of promoting aliya from Britain. The new body, headed by Eric Moonan, MP and MP Trevor Chinn, grew out of a “Solidarity for Israel” conference last year. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the community’s representative council, is associated with it, as are many other organizations.
Among the 112 immigrants in July there is a wide range of professions and occupations. Teachers, of whom there were 12, were the main group. Individuals included an oil rig steward, a telex operator, a physiotherapist and a college executive. Most were also in what Yotvat called good age groups–between 18 and 49. There were 39 under 18 and only 11 aged over 50.
This was Yotvat’s first civilian job since retiring from the Israel army as a Brigade Commander. He is to be replaced here next month by Hannan Haniel, a lawyer, who previously served as an aliya emissary in the United States.
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