At the special conference organized by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration titled 'Aliyah as a Growth Engine for the Israeli Economy,' Sylvan Adams, President of the World Jewish Congress Israel Region, spoke with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about an ambitious goal to bring one million new Olim to Israel within the next five years.
"We announced a very important goal, which is to bring a million new Olim to Israel in the next five years," Adams said. "As we saw with the last big wave of immigration, which came from the former Soviet Union, it changed the country. It injected a new demographic balance, a new energy, a new level of education, of culture, of sport, in all kinds of areas."
Adams emphasized that the current moment presents a unique opportunity to encourage immigration to Israel. "This is really the perfect moment for Olim to bring massive numbers of new Olim here, given the antisemitism that we've seen abroad, given that finally we seem to be closing the war chapter that we've faced since the 7th of October," he said. "So the timing is just impeccable for us to embark on this project and restore the demographic balance in Israel."
Discussing the infrastructure needed to support new immigrants, Adams stated, "They won't even get on the plane if they don't feel that there is infrastructure to support them, which starts with, of course, employment. But it includes housing, affordable housing, because we know how expensive housing is in Israel, education for their children, and all the other things, the sports infrastructure and leisure infrastructure that we need to create here to absorb a million new people."
He also highlighted the potential of developing Israel’s southern region: "The biggest backyard that we have in the country is in the south, is in the Negev. And so to fulfill Ben-Gurion's dream and populate our south, we would be hitting all the right notes and encouraging high-tech companies and the high-paying jobs to be created in our south, and build the housing and all the other things that go around."
Adams noted that growing antisemitism abroad serves as a major push factor for Aliyah: "Given the antisemitism and the difficulty that exists right now, largely in Europe, but also in my former native Canada, where, frankly, there's a hostility to Jews that we haven't seen really since the Holocaust. So that's the push factor."
However, he stressed that Israel must also provide the necessary pull factors: "The pull factor has to be economic opportunity, housing, education, and being able to live a full and happy, and easy life that is often elusive in our country."
As Israel prepares for the next wave of immigration, Adams underscored the importance of readiness: "We need to be able to accommodate them. Comfortably accommodate them. They won't come. We will not be able to attract 200,000 immigrants a year if we don't create opportunities for them."
Adams concluded by describing his new role: "That's really my new role as President of the World Jewish Congress of Israel in the region. My role is to act as a liaison between the Diaspora communities and the State of Israel to be able to make it happen."