After 20 years, why has Russian immigration to Israel stagnated?
Expert believes fewer Russians want to make aliyah due to systemic discrimination and difficult absorption.
By Tracy Levy Tags: Israel news Israel RussiansTwenty years after Russia opened its doors to mass emigration, the number of immigrants choosing to move to Israel has stagnated.
Since 1989, over one million Russians have immigrated to Israel. In the past few years, Israel has seen an average of between five and six thousand Russian immigrants per year.
Professor Eliezer Leshem, a former Hebrew University professor and current Professor Emeritus at Ariel University Center of Samaria, believes that the current cessation of immigration may have something to do with discrimination many Russians felt while being absorbed into Israeli society.
Leshem, who is an expert on Russian immigration, cites the state's doubt about some immigrants' Jewish status, as well as trouble integrating into the job market as signs of the intolerance the Russian community has had to face.
"Russians face suspicion about their Judaism even after converting. The attitude of the rabbinical establishment is winning," Leshem said. In addition, only 20 percent of immigrants have been integrated into the same jobs they worked in Russia; the rest have had to settle for different, and in many cases, lower status jobs.
Margo Garshina, who immigrated to Israel last year, prefers not to focus on the negative aspects of the history of immigrant absorption in Israel. The 22-year-old, who emigrated from Moscow, foresees a bright future for herself in this country; she will begin studying for a master?s degree in communication this fall at Tel Aviv University.
"I feel much better here than I did in Russia," Garshina said. She believes the low number of new immigrants from Russia may have something to do with the way that Israel is represented back in Russia. "People think it's a war zone where people are killing each other on the streets. My friends thought I was moving to the end of the world, where I would be in danger at every second."
Garshina decided to move to Israel after coming on a Taglit Birthright trip; she was the only one out of several groups with 40 each who decided to move here.
Choosing not to identify herself too closely with the Russian community in Israel, Garshina represents the new generation of young Russian immigrants.
"I'm trying to integrate in to Israeli society, not Russian society," says Garshina who has been studying Hebrew since she moved to Israel. "Many Russians come here and don't communicate with people outside of the Russian community and I don't think that's right."
Meanwhile, Leshem is doubtful that emigration from Russia will increase in the future, partly due to economic changes and increased opportunities in the country.
"If you don?t receive the immigrants properly and the motivation for them to leave is low then you can only expect five to six thousand immigrants a year."
Garshina recalls walking off the plane into Israel, a country where she has no family and knew no one. She knows firsthand how daunting moving to a foreign country can be regardless of one's nationality.
"I think anyone would be afraid to take such a big step in their lives," Garshina said about the future of Russian immigration.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
What I am going to say here should be very obvious to anyone who has had the chance to live both among the Soviet Jews in Israel and among the Soviet Jews in a place like Brighton Beach, NY. In 1970s, after Nixon's historic visit to the USSR that lifted the Iron Curtain for the Soviet Jewry, about 5% of them chose to come to Israel. These were for the most part high-quality, well-educated individuals. Lots of scientists, doctors, engineers. Thanks to them Israel's top export today is hitech, not oranges. The very worst 5% of Soviet Jews headed for the United States. Odessa's criminal underworld headed for the U.S. Small-time crooks and big-time Soviet "mafiozi" of Jewish extraction headed for the U.S. All kinds of losers haded for the U.S. Some came to fame as "the Russian Mafia". Most stayed on welfare for the rest of their lives, badmouthing the U.S. as much as they badmouthed the USSR. And 90% of Jews stayed in the USSR because they were just fine over there...
What about migration from Israel to Russia? For a number of years, the data showed more moving from Israel back to Russia than were immigrating to Israel. Has this pattern changed with the economic problems now facing Russia? Anyone know?
to Israel has changed the face of our country. Russians emigrants worked hard, living together in one apartment, pooling their money, then buying another and another. Wherever Russian Jews reside you will find many small businesses owned by them. The professional classes including physicians, nurses, engineers and computer technicians and system analysts are heavily populated by Russian Jews. In politics, Yisrael Beiteinu, oroginated by Avigdor Lieberman (Russian Jewish immigrant) has grown from a small party to the third largest in Israel and now includes many people of non-Russian origin. Russian Jews regularly enter the IDF. They make fierce and committed soldiers and many have become career officers. In fact, I doubt that we could have survived without their commitment to Israel and the dynamic energy provided by their people. Like other Jewish immigrants, they are now becoming well integrated into Israeli life and all of us, the total Israeli population, has benefitted.
After the mass immigration of Jewish Russians I felt I was in Russia instead of Israel during my annual visits. Everywhere around me I heard Russian, the street signs were in Hebrew, English AND Russian. 1 million Russian Jews, that is 1/6th of the Israeli population. Isn't that enough? I would say YES !
i think that you right, there is also large emigration to Canada, Australia, and far east.
When Russian jews learnt what Israel was doing in Gaza, they lost interest in zionism. Murder is repugnant no matter who wields the knife.
you all work too hard to understand. 20 years ago, they left the soviet union where they were non too happy. a window was opened for them and they were happy to jump out and into a new situation, they knew not what. now if they leave, they leave russia, or some other state. they leave a place where they are comfortable. no need to go somewhere else. like any and all immigrants from time immemorial, some have flourished, some wilted. some came thinking israel "owed" them. some came intending to make their lives better than would have been had they not moved. and you know who succeeded and who didnt.
Go into any hospital and russians are the backbone, I dont know how Israel would have survived without their contribution to the state. Shame that Israeli snobs still look down on them.
The reason, Russian(Soviet) Jewry give luke warm support to move to Israel is purely money. Gone are the days when people in the USSR(Russia, Kazakhstan and so on) got paid less money than in Israel. Now, it's vice verse. Looking at Israelis, who earn such little money to stack up against current salaries in CIS countries, one can easily guess why we prefer to live in Galut.
I am a Russian-speaking jew from NYC and I moved to Tel Aviv 5 years ago. It is NOT true that Russians with degrees are sweeping the floors here! That kind of idiotic out dated info is one of the reasons people DON'T want to immigrate to israe, because people like you spread disinformation (much like the JDC and HIAS did when they told us to move to NY instead of israel in 1979). The russian-speaking Jews in israel are the the MOST successful emigre groups in israel's history. They are the backbone of Israel's high Tech revolution. Unlike in the USA, where Russian-Jews are unoticed among the 310 million people, here they actually have made a positive and recognized contribution to the arts, sciences, culture, and economy. It is a shame that the half million Jews were bribed by the US, Canada, and Germany, to not move to israel, where they would have contributed even more! Imagine in Sergey Bryn started Google in Israel?!
Don't compare apples to oranges. Israel is much smaller then US and with many less economic opportunities. You would be surprised but many Russian professionals, including academics, are also sweeping floors in US, Canada, Germany and Australia. The barrier to entry is limited by language and economic realities. It's called capitalism. But you are right in the general sense. If America would open its doors a lot more Jews would go to America then Israel for the precise fact that it's a lot easier to realize one-self in America. In fact it goes to all countries in the world when compared to America - the main reason why everyone wants to come here.
Compare the average income and overall quality of life of Russian Jews in the U.S. and Israel, you will see that Russian Jews have rebounded and are much more economically successful due to opportunities here in the U.S. Many Russian Jews in Israel with advanced degrees have to sweep floors when in the U.S. they still find something better to do even if they can not enter their career fields.
The lesson of russian jewry is that more sunni arabs are needed in iraq to restore the balance between sunni and shia and bring peace to that horrific conflict.
As a Russian Jew may I wander where did the authors found these particular experts on Russian immigration? The main reason why the immigration has stagnated is because everyone who wanted to leave the former USSR has already left either to Israel, USA, Germany, Australia and a number of other countries. The immigration of the past 20 years, numbering millions of people, has almost completely emptied former USSR from Jews and those who decided to stay in the old country - will stay there for good.
Why has Russian aliyah dropped off? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are so many fewer Jews in Russia than there were in the 1990s. Over a million came to Israel. Additional hundreds of thousands came to the U.S. Couple this with the 80% intermarriage rate in Russia, and any demographer will tell you that there just aren't nearly as many Russian Jews around to make aliyah as there used to be. This has more to do with it than any perceived discrimination in Israel.