Over 200 Americans move TO Israel since Hamas barbaric attack launched a war and wave of antisemitism
Since October 7, Israel has eperienced an influx of immigrants of more than 2,600 from the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, France and Belarus
By Ruth Bashinsky
Daily Mail
Dec 24, 2023
The ADL Center on Extremism said preliminary data showed 312 reported U.S. anti-Semitic incidents from Oct. 7 to Oct. 23, including harassment, vandalism and assault. Pictured: Pro-Palestine groups fill NYC's Grand Central Terminal
More than 200 Americans have moved to Israel since the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Aaron Gold, 26, was visiting friends in Israel when the war broke out. After returning to his home in Philadelphia he felt a strong desire to return to the Holy Land despite the ongoing war.
'Hezbollah could attack now, they could attack in six months, they could attack in six years,' he told The Times of Israel. 'You can't plan it.'
A product manager at Deloitte, Gold packed his bags and left the City of Brotherly Love heading to Israel. He said 'making aliyah' (moving to the Land of Israel that is one of basic principles of Zionism) has always been a dream.
On November 16 it became official.
Gold is one of the 218 Americans, as of December 24, that are part of the 2,662 who have moved to Israel after the October 7 attack when Palestinian militant extremist group slaughtered more than 1,200 people and 240 hostages, Israeli officials said.
Aaron Gold, 26, pictured with his mother at the airport. Gold was among one of 218 Americans who left the United States to move to Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Protestors gather in New York on December 18 for a pro-Palestine activist march as they participate in a Global Strike for Gaza to demand a ceasefire
The highest numbers are from Russia at 1,635; followed by the United States at 218 Ukraine at 128, 116 people from France and 106 from Belarus.
The ministry said the numbers are smaller than the average in recent years. During the same period last year, there were 16,400 new immigrants that arrived in Israel, due mostly in part, to the war in Ukraine, and when political discord in Israel had already depressed immigration beyond the usual rate, as per the news outlet.
Yona and Mikhael Benichou were planning to move to Israel from their native France once their oldest son started university, but after October 7 they expedited their plans to immigrate.
Yona told the news outlet the events of October 7 was 'the straw that broke the camel's back,' and on October 31 they arrived in their new country.
The term used for new arrivals is called 'olim.'
People gather at the airport holding up welcome signs and Israeli flags for the new arrivals
Another young man leaves his country to embark on a new life in Israel after the October 7 attack
She shared one disturbing event that occurred in their hometown of Marseilles before their exit when they were spit on by a group of rugby fans while walking down the street.
The family had been wearing items that showed that they were Jewish before the anti-Semitic attack.
She told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 'I was in total shock, I didn't know how to react. Lots of other people saw what happened but no one tried to help us.'
Yona added, 'the antisemites were always there. But after October 7, we felt like they have a platform to do whatever they like and that no one — and definitely not the French authorities — can stop them.'
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews purchased flights for the Benichous family and donated $2,000 towards furnishings for the family's new home in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh.
Since October 7, the organization has help 317 people 'make aliyah.'
The new immigrants are known as 'olim.' The term is used for those Jews who move to Israel despite the uncertainty that lies ahead.
The group's president, Yael Eckstein told The Times of Israel that she anticipates more people moving to Israel once the war ends. There are also concerns about the spike in antisemitism.
She said she has seen an 'increase in the number of requests for information about the immigration process from countries where cases of antisemitic incidents have risen.'
Another non-profit organization called Nefesh B'Nefesh, also called Jewish Souls United, helps facilitate aliyah from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Since the start of the war, the organization helped facilitate aliyah for 384 people from the United States and Canada.
The group's vice president of communications, Yael Katsman told JTA those individuals, who arrived in Israel had begun the process of relocating long before October 7 attack.
Eckstein and Katsman noted that there has been a 'vast surge' in interest since the October 7 attacks - marking an 'an unprecedented increase' of more than 100% in aliyah applications compared to the same time last year, the news outlet reported.
The dramatic increase, is due in part, they said to the increased 'commitment to building Israel' by Diaspora Jewry during 'difficult historic events.'
The Jewish Agency chairman Major General Reserve Doron Almog told The Jerusaleum Post last month that the agency expects one million olim (new immigrants) in Israel during the next few years.
He said, 'over the next few years, we anticipate a million new immigrants due to the increasing antisemitism in Jewish communities around the world.'
Lat month, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League said in an appearance on MSNBC that anti-Semitism has increased by a staggering 388 percent since Hamas' barbaric assault on Israel that began on October 7
The 218 Americans who have moved to Israel comes as the country has seen a staggering rise in antisemitism.
Lat month, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League said in an appearance on MSNBC that anti-Semitism has increased by a staggering 388 percent since Hamas' barbaric assault on Israel that began on October 7.
Jonathan Greenblatt, who is also the director of the advocacy group, told The Sunday Show that his group has seen attacks on everyday businesses that are run by Jewish people, in addition to attacks on individuals and places of worship.
'I'm not talking about stores producing IDF [Israel Defense Forces] T-shirts; I'm talking about a coffee shop on Long Island, an ice cream parlor in the Bay Area, a restaurant in Chicago,' he said.
'Antisemitism has been intensifying and increasing. We've seen it normalized, and from the far-right and from the hard left,' Greenblatt added.
Greenblatt also raised the issue of the spate of anti-Semitic incidents that have taken place on campuses of Ivy-league colleges including Harvard and Cornell.
The ADL Center on Extremism said preliminary data showed 312 reported U.S. anti-Semitic incidents from Oct. 7 to Oct. 23, including harassment, vandalism and assault.
About 190 of those were directly linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Among examples cited by ADL were alleged physical assault; violent online messages, especially on messaging platform Telegram; and rallies where 'ADL found explicit or strong implicit support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel.'
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