Antisemitism is pushing more Western immigration, Israeli data shows

France posted the largest single-country surge, with 3,360 French Jews making the move to Israel, a 51% increase over 2024.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israel recorded a sharp drop in Jewish immigration last year while simultaneously seeing a significant surge in arrivals from Western countries, according to government data released Sunday.

Officials pointed to rising antisemitism abroad and the country’s ongoing war as twin forces reshaping who is choosing to move there.

The Israeli Ministry of Immigration and Integration reported that 22,522 immigrants arrived in 2025, a 38% decline from the country’s decade-long average of roughly 36,000 per year.

Ministry officials attributed the fall primarily to irregular flight schedules and combat operations stemming from the war that began with the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.

Yet even as overall numbers fell, the composition of arrivals shifted dramatically. Immigrants from Western nations — primarily the United States, France, Britain, and Canada — jumped to 38% of all arrivals, up from 21% the previous year, a relative increase of 82% in a single year.

France posted the largest single-country surge, with 3,360 French Jews making the move to Israel, a 51% increase over 2024.

American immigration rose 10% to 3,781, British arrivals climbed 27.6%, and Canadian immigration grew 12%.

The ministry’s report cited two driving factors: an expanded government-funded accompaniment network operating in those countries and, more pointedly, a deteriorating sense of security among Jewish communities.

“In many of these countries there has been a sharp rise in antisemitism reports, which has damaged the sense of security of Jews in those countries and incentivized them to immigrate to Israel,” the report said.

Immigration from Russia and Ukraine, which had dominated the numbers since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, continued a sharp decline.

Russian arrivals fell 56% compared to 2024, settling at 8,553, while Ukrainian immigration dropped to just 931 — an 84% fall from the decade average. Russia nonetheless remained the single largest country of origin.

The data also revealed a younger immigrant profile. The 18-to-35 age group grew to 34% of all arrivals, up from 31% the previous year, and among Western immigrants that figure reached 40%.

Ministry officials framed this positively, noting that “there are fewer immigrants, but with a higher concentration of working-age population.”

However, the report’s own findings on economic integration complicate that optimism.

Average monthly income for immigrants stood at roughly 9,900 shekels — approximately $2,700 — compared to a national average of around 16,200 shekels. The gap narrows over time but persists for well over a decade.

Perhaps more striking, the report found that 65% of immigrants abandoned their original profession after arriving, including 70% of those who held licensed professional qualifications from their home countries.

Language was identified as the dominant barrier, cited by between 60% and 75% of unemployed immigrants as their primary obstacle to finding suitable work.

On the question of whether immigrants feel the move was worthwhile, the ministry’s own survey of 15,000 immigrants with at least ten years in the country found broadly positive sentiment.

Eighty-two percent reported a sense of identification and belonging to the state, and 81% expected to remain in Israel permanently.

“The integration process of immigrants in Israel is long-term and lasts at least 15 years,” the report acknowledged, a candid admission from a government body whose mandate is to promote and manage that very process.

A study of international Jewish demographics released in May found that Israel could become home to the majority of the world’s Jews within the next decade.

At current growth rates, the report — released by the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research — projects that Israel could cross the symbolic threshold of hosting the majority of the world’s Jews as early as 2035.