A reported 32,494 Russian citizens have made aliyah, or immigrated to Israel, in 2022, through Israel's Law of Return, according to Ofek Israeli, an organization that encourages immigration to Israel throughout much of the world.
Ofek Israeli's efforts extend particularly to encouraging aliyah in Western European countries, and to providing new immigrants assistance with bureaucratic procedures and Hebrew-immersion courses.
According to the organization, the numbers reflect a 400% increase in immigration from Russia to Israel compared with 2021. An additional 14,450 immigrants this year came from Ukraine; 3,280 from North America; 1,957 from France; and 1,474 from Ethiopia.
According to Ofek Israeli, about 61,000 immigrants in total arrived in Israel in 2022 by mid-November, more than twice as many as the same time in 2021. Final numbers will be published near the end of the year.
Ofek Israeli is planning a conference in Ashdod for hundreds of its emissaries stationed worldwide. These emissaries, who assist Jewish communities worldwide to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return, will be given the opportunity to learn about the many absorption programs available to immigrants.
Dissemination of relevant and correct information greatly encourages potential immigrants, Ofek Israeli CEO Shimon Cohen noted.
"In recent years, this has been carried out with the help of hundreds of emissaries located all over the world," Cohen said this week ."When the proper information is distributed correctly to Jews around the world, tens of thousands of people make aliyah to Israel."
Ofek Israeli Chairman Dimi Afratsev affirmed the vision of the organization: "I am proud of the privilege we have to fulfill the Zionist vision every day in our work and to strengthen Israel with tens of thousands of new immigrants every year."
"Even during the crisis in Ukraine, a country where I served as an emissary in the past, we knew how to react quickly and make sure that those entitled to aliyah would come home to Israel," he said.
This article originally appeared on ALL ISRAEL NEWS and is reposted with permission.