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bJewish population in Israel in the year 2000 have been based on bvarious figures of immigration totaling between 50,000 and b60,000 a year. This figure has now dropped to 25,000 or 15,000 ba year. The truth is that the net percentage of immigration bgrowth is closer to zero and probably below that. The reason? bAlong with immigration to Israel, there is emigration from the coun- btry. Jews from the Exile not only do not desire to come to Israel b—even trouble spots such as Iran and South Africa find Jews bseeking the shores of American, European, or Commonwealth bnations rather than Israel—but Israelis are leaving in danger- bously large numbers. bAt least half a million Jews who lived in Israel have left and bnow reside in the United States and Canada. According to the bKnesset Committee on Aliya and Absorption, some 2,000 Israel- bis leave every month, and many who plan to emigrate will not badmit it, preferring to get a tourist visa, list their reason for trav- beling as “vacation,” and then hope to find some way to remain bin the country. The weekly newspaper for Israelis in New York, bthe Sunday-morning television show, and the three-hour daily bradio program testify to the phenomenon. The neighborhoods in bLos Angeles and New York where Hebrew is heard on all sides bare chilling evidence of the reality of yerida (“emigration”). bAnd, of course, emigration feeds on itself. As more Israelis bleave Israel and settle in the West, the psychological barrier of bshame that once existed is broken. Once Israelis were literally bashamed to admit that they wished to emigrate. Today, with bhalf a million who have done so, that shame is gone. More and bmore can rationalize their intention to leave by pointing to the barmy service they have given, the high taxes, the inflation, the beconomy, the annual reserve duty. bAnd once one has a relative or friend in America, it be- bcomes much easier to obtain good advice and aid in emigrating. bOne need only speak to young Israelis to realize the staggering bnumber of those who seriously think of leaving. Nor need one bbelabor the obviously negative effect the sight of all those Israelis bhas on the efforts to persuade Western Jews to come to Israel. bCertainly, many a Western Jew who has toyed with the idea is bshaken by the number of Israelis who prefer his country. bAnd so, if Tel Aviv University professor Moshe Hartman bwarns of the need for an annual immigration net rate of 80,000 b
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