Jews avoiding Israel -
Immigration down 27%

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Jerusalem Post
August 13, 2002

Immigration to Israel was down by 27 percent in the first half of 2002, according to figures released Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

The decrease was due in large part to a 46% drop in immigration from the former Soviet Union.

Some 8,400 FSU immigrants came in the first half of this year compared with 15,500 in the first half of 2001.

Mike Rosenberg, director-general of the Jewish Agency's immigration and absorption department, blamed the drop on the poor economy here.

The decrease came as no surprise to the Jewish Agency, which had predicted that immigration would be down this year.

Rosenberg said he prefers to focus on the success stories, which are the immigration increases among Argentinean and American Jews.

According to the CBS, July saw the highest number of immigrants so far this year, 2,900.

It also reported an increase in the proportion of immigrants coming under the Entry Law, 10%, compared to 6% last year. The remaining immigrants came under the Law of Return.

The CBS figures are higher than the Jewish Agency numbers, because the CBS counts returning Israeli citizens and those who become Israeli citizens while in the country.

According to Jewish Agency, during the seven months from January to July this year, there was a 25% drop in immigrants, from 24,286 immigrants last year to 18,179 this year.

On the brighter side, there were 3,128 Jews from Argentina in the first seven months compared with 794 in 2001, and 989 came from North America in 2002 compared with 879 in the first seven months of 2001.