December 28, 2006

Immigration to Israel is at an 18-year low.

The Jewish Agency for Israel said Thursday that 21,000 foreign Jews immigrated in 2006, the lowest annual figure since 1988.

But the data showed a relative rise in aliyah from Anglophone countries.

While immigration from the former Soviet Union is down dramatically — the main reason for the record low — nearly 4,000 American and British Jews moved to Israel in 2006, figures not seen from those communities in more than 20 years.

Nefesh B’Nefesh, an aliyah group that works primarily in North America, this week celebrated the 10,000th immigrant it has brought to Israel.