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Aliyah figures on the rise again
By Ron Littman
The number of new immigrants to Israel in the past year increased for the first time since 1999, according to The Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization.
The new change was attributed to an increase in Aliya from France and North America. Immigration from Ethiopia also increased in the past year. On the other hand, the number of Olim from the CIS was lower than in the previous year, although they still represent nearly half of the total annual immigrants.
Some of the places that contributed smaller amounts of newcomers included more "exotic" countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, China, Japan, Mali, and Zimbabwe.
In total, since September 2004, 23,124 Olim immigrated to Israel, as compared to 21,604 who arrived in the previous year.
Zeev Bielski, chairman of the Jewish agency, credits the change to the improved security and economic conditions in Israel and to new marketing strategies taken by his agency and by other local institutions. One of these strategies was "stepwise Aliya" in which prospective youth were first brought to Israel for brief visits, followed by longer introductory periods in which they got acquainted with Israeli life and learned about relocation options.
Bielski stated that the prime minister and his staff placed the issue of Diaspora and Aliya in particular as his highest priority.
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