July 7, 2008 / 4 Tammuz 5768

High rate of assimilation among Jews from Former Soviet Union as aliyah declines

Chairman of Jewish Agency, Zeev Bielski, at cabinet discussion on Jews of Former Soviet Union:

"This is a critical moment: we must pool resources with the Government of Israel in order to strengthen the link to their Jewishness of the Jews of the Former Soviet Union and their connection to Israel"

At a cabinet meeting yesterday, July 6th, which discussed the Jews of the Former Soviet Union, Jewish Agency representatives spoke of the decline in immigration to Israel in recent years, against a background of high assimilation in Jewish communities in CIS. They also presented Jewish Agency activity in the fields of aliyah and Jewish-Zionist education in hundreds of centers throughout the CIS.

According to Jewish Agency data, there has been a steady decline in the number of new immigrants from the CIS since 2000. In 2007 there were 6,500 olim, a decrease in 10% from 2006. Despite the declining number of new immigrants, olim from the FSU are still the largest group of new immigrants to Israel – 40% of the total number of immigrants. "Nativ" also presented data which shows that the level of assimilation among Jews of CIS is close to 80%.

Representatives of the Jewish Agency presented the activity of the Jewish Agency which is spread throughout hundreds of cities in the FSU and in communities of Russian-speaking Jews in Germany and North America and which deals with aliyah promotion and strengthening the Jewish-Zionist identity of the young generation. This activity includes programs for encouraging young people to make aliyah, aliyah fairs, aliyah seminars and more, as well as running summer and winter camps for youths and students, trips to Israel for young people such as Birthright and MASA, Hebrew language instruction, activities in Jewish schools, educational activities and more.

In light of these statistics, Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski called for the pooling of resources with the Government of Israel and especially with "Nativ", which is operating in the CIS and in Germany, in order to strengthen the connection FSU Jews have to their Judaism and to Israel and to increase the number of olim to Israel. "This is a critical moment: we must pool resources with the Government of Israel in order to strengthen their link to their Jewishness and their connection to Israel. This is a critical moment and in another generation or two we might find that we have missed the boat".