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World Jewish News
Israel gives millions of shekels to repatriates from the CIS
15.03.2009
The Cabinet of Ministers decided to allocate tens of millions of shekels to encourage repatriation (immigration to Israel) from the former Soviet Union. The plan was proposed by the JAFI and the Ministry for Immigrant Absorption.
The program includes assistance in finding and renting accommodation, as well as employment.
The Minister of Immigrant Absorption Eli Aflalo congratulated the Government on this decision.
"The government of Israel has made a historic decision and taken an important step towards creating a new wave of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, for the first time since the early 1990s."
Recent statistics have shown a significant reduction in the number of repatriates from the former Soviet Union. Thus, the program "Aliya from the CIS" has been developed. The state plans to allocate about 32 million shekels to this program.
The program is to be implemented by 2010. The bulk of funds - 70% - goes to pay a year's rent for new immigrants. 20% of the budget is allocated for employment assistance – providing for vocational courses, retraining opportunities, professional development, etc. And 10% of the 32 million is to be given to the repatriates as one-time material aid.
However, all these benefits require of newcomers to fulfill several conditions, most notably, the obligation to live in the country for at least two years. The strict requirements relate largely to the fact that a large percentage of immigrants from Argentina, who arrived in Israel 10 years ago, when the Latin American country was at the brink of bankruptcy, shortly after the repatriation left the hospitable Jewish state.
The second condition is as follows: the repatriation is not to be within the framework of any program of the Jewish Agency.
During 19 years the alliyah (ascent - Hebrew, aterm which in Israel refers to repatriation) decreased by more than 30 times (from 185 230 in 1990 to 5,587 in 2008) and for the past 4 years almost by half.
Generally there are about 900 000 people subject to the "Law on Return" in the FSU. In 2008, 261 incidents of anti-Semitism manifestations were registered in the CIS countries.
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