This Thursday, the Department of Aliyah and Integration at Ben-Gurion Airport announced that 8,238 immigrants have come to Israel since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with more than three quarters of these being from Ukraine. The department has been working to shorten the amount of time taken to be considered eligible for Israeli citizenship. The chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel, stated that there is also increased interest in Aliyah from Jews in Russia and several former Soviet Union countries. Hagoel also said that in case of a situation where tens of thousands of Jews suddenly flee Ukraine, there are rooms and spaces rented in advance in countries adjacent to Ukraine.
