A total of 10,325 Soviet Jews arrived in Israel in July, barely half the number who arrived the month before, when Jews rushed to leave the Soviet Union before new emigration regulations went into effect.
But despite the low monthly total, the second worst this calendar year, Israeli officials were encouraged, saying more Soviet Jews had arrived than they had predicted.
Regulations that went into effect July 1 require all citizens leaving the Soviet Union to obtain passports, a procedure that is expected to result in lengthy bureaucratic delays.
But Soviet officials have pledged that Jews who already have exit permits will be given top priority in passport processing.
An additional 2,142 Soviet Jews immigrated to the United States as refugees in July, according to figures provided by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in New York.
That is the lowest monthly figure since February and brings total Soviet Jewish immigration to the United States for the first 10 months of the fiscal year to 18,949. Congress has authorized funding for up to 40,000 Soviet Jewish refugees this fiscal year, but with only two months left, much of those funds will not be used.
Despite the lower number of Soviet Jews who arrived in Israel last month, 1991 is a banner year for aliyah. A total 110,600 immigrants arrived here during the first six months of the year, nearly double the number that arrived in the first half of 1990.
The six-month total, compiled by the Central Bureau of Statistics, includes over 86,000 immigrants from the Soviet Union and 18,900 from Ethiopia, many of whom came in the Operation Solomon emergency airlift in late May.
Another 1,600 olim arrived in Israel from Europe, including some 300 Jews from Albania; 260 came from Asia; and 1,200 came from the Americas, including 500 from the United States.
The Israeli statistics show that immigrants from Ethiopia were younger, on average, than those from the Soviet Union. The median age for all new olim during the first half of the year was 32.5, compared to 14.4 years old for Ethiopian newcomers.
Among the Soviet immigrants, 28 percent were under 20 years of age, 38 percent between 20 and 40, and 14 percent over 65.
Among the Ethiopians, 61 percent were below age 10 and only 5 percent were above the age of 65.
According to the Education Ministry, the immigration wave added 60,000 new pupils to the school system last year, in addition to another 17,000 pupils added to the school rosters as a result of natural growth among the local population.
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