Over 6,000 Ukrainians have immigrated to Israel since Russia’s invasion, doubling 2021 tally

More than 6,000 Ukrainians have immigrated to Israel since Russia launched its invasion one month ago, roughly twice as many as in all of 2021, the Immigration and Absorption Ministry says.

According to the ministry, since the Russian offensive began, 8,238 people from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus have arrived in Israel, with more than 75 percent of them coming from Ukraine. (Seeing all of these immigrants as fleeing humanitarian crises — the war in Ukraine and repression in Russia and Belarus — the ministry has taken to lumping all of them in one group for the purposes of its statistics.)

More than 500 new immigrants arrived in Israel yesterday and another 400 were due to arrive today.

The Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organization that oversees immigration to Israel, has said it was significantly stepping up its immigration flights to tackle the growing refugee crisis on Ukraine’s borders.

Of the more than 8,000 new immigrants who have arrived in the past month, roughly a quarter have opted to spend their first few weeks in the country in hotel rooms rented by the government.

The rest have arranged their own housing, many with family who already live in Israel.

“More and more immigrants arrive every day, and our immigration forecasts are coming true. We expect many more immigrants and are preparing for that. In addition to giving immediate aid to immigrants, we are working now on developing big programs in the fields of welfare, education, employment, housing and other aspects, and I am glad to see cooperation with other members of the government,” Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata says in a statement.