Image by getty images

Immigration to Israel from North America rose 7 percent in 2014 over the previous year to 3,762 olim from the United States and Canada, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh.

The immigrants came on 17 special aliyah flights from North America, sponsored by facilitated by Nefesh B’Nefesh in partnership with the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and JNF-USA.

The flights included 296 families with 813 children under the age of 18 and 1,703 singles. The immigrants came mostly from New York, New Jersey, Florida, California, Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania in the United States, and from Quebec and Ontario in Canada.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Aliyah from Britain rose 6 percent to 525 olim in 2014, with 49 families, 97 children and 183 singles, most from London and Manchester. In 2014, the number of lone soldiers, young people who make aliyah without their immediate family, rose by 10 percent over the previous year, to 350. There are currently about 3,000 lone soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

Summer is traditionally the peak time for aliyah. Erez Halfon, vice chairman of Nefesh B’Nefesh, noted in a statement that olim continued to come during the summer, despite Israel’s 50-day operation in Gaza operation and the hundreds of rockets that rained down on southern and central Israel.

“Despite the events that transpired during the traditional summer peak period for Aliyah, we saw that immigration to Israel grew significantly from North America and the U.K.,” Halfon said. “These olim, including hundreds of soldiers, left behind careers, families, and communities, and their sacrifice and courage was widely acknowledged by the Israeli public.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount