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World Zionist Organization Chair: Immigration to Israel Has Not Slowed Since Oct. 7, 100,000 New Olim Expected
Jewish immigration to Israel has not slowed over the past year despite the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, according to the chairman of the World Zionist Organization.
Yaakov Hagoel told The Algemeiner in an interview that since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel and launched the war, more than 29,000 people have made aliyah, the process of Jews immigrating to Israel.
Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack — in which the Palestinian terror group killed 1,200 people, took another 251 hostage, and committed rampant sexual violence — began a war “not only against the State of Israel, but also against the entire Jewish people,” Hagoel said. He added that the onslaught, the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, “caused the Jewish community in Israel and around the world to feel less safe and secure.”
Since Oct. 7, antisemitism around the world has spiked to alarming levels. The Anti-Defamation League released a report in April showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high. Most of the outrages occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Meanwhile, such outrages have also skyrocketed to record highs in several other countries around the world, especially in Europe, since the Hamas atrocities. In France,for example, Jewish leaders have expressed concern about the safety of their community if French Jews don’t leave the country.
Consequently, Hagoel continued, “Jews around the world are looking for something more secure that they can rely on to raise their children and to link them to the Jewish traditions. And there’s no doubt that the interest in aliyah since Oct. 7 is related to it and hasn’t happened in many, many years.”
According to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of annual immigrants to Israel since 2010 has ranged from almost 75,000 people to just 13,000 — with most years between 15,000 and 30,000. This would make the year after Oct. 7 relatively consistent with the past decade and a half.
However, Hagoel said he expects 100,000 new olim — the Hebrew term for immigrants who move to Israel — to come after the Israel-Hamas war is over.
Because of the war, Hagoel explained, “the expectation is that they would fall dramatically and they haven’t done that.”
But the reason people are coming is not just because of the war, he said. It is also because “anyone that makes aliyah is fulfilling a dream of returning home. So, the security situation around the world is a trigger to expedite that will to come home.”
In fact, Hagoel added, “there has been a dramatic increase in numbers in the opening of files to express an interest in aliyah and to begin the process — that’s increased by around 300 percent since the same period last year.”
After a recent plane of new olim came from France, Hagoel said it “demonstrates that the Jewish people are determined to continue building their future in our homeland, the land of Israel. This unprecedented aliyah is a testament to the recognition of the global Jewish community that Israel is not just a refuge, but a beacon of hope and faith.”
Asked about a message he had for the Jewish world, Hagoel emphasized the responsibility he felt to Jews across the world, regardless if they will make aliyah, and how important it is to help them.
He said he and his organization feel a “responsibility for all the Jews who live in Israel, those who will live in Israel, and those who will never live here.”
The post World Zionist Organization Chair: Immigration to Israel Has Not Slowed Since Oct. 7, 100,000 New Olim Expected first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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120th anniversary of the Forverts advice column “Bintel Brief”
מזל־טובֿ! דעם 20סטן יאַנואַר 2026 איז געוואָרן 120 יאָר זינט דער גרינדונג פֿון „אַ בינטל בריוו“ — דער עצות־רובריק פֿונעם פֿאָרווערטס. די רובריק איז פֿאַרלייגט געוואָרן פֿונעם גרינדער און לאַנגיאָריקן שעף־רעדאַקטאָר אַב קאַהאַן אין 1906.
כּדי אָפּצומערקן דעם יום־טובֿ ברענגען מיר אײַך צוויי זאַכן:
• ערשטנס, אַן אַרטיקל וועגן אַ טשיקאַווען בריוו וואָס איז אָנגעקומען אין דער פֿאָרווערטס־רעדאַקציע אין יאַנואַר 1949, פֿון אַ לייענער וועמעס זון האָט חתונה געהאַט מיט אַ קריסטלעכער פֿרוי
• צווייטנס, אַ פֿאָרווערטס־ווידעאָ אויף ייִדיש וועגן דער געשיכטע פֿון „אַ בינטל בריוו“, מיטן געוועזענעם פֿאָרווערטס־רעדאַקטאָר באָריס סאַנדלער און דער פֿאָרווערטס־אַרכיוויסטקע חנה פּאָלאַק.
The post 120th anniversary of the Forverts advice column “Bintel Brief” appeared first on The Forward.
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Report: Khamenei Moved to Underground Bunker in Tehran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a televised message, after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Amid tense expectation of US strike on key assets of the Islamic regime, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was moved into a special underground bunker in Tehran, the Iran International website reported on Saturday.
The report further added that the supreme leader’s third son Masoud Khamenei has taken over day-to-day management of the leader’s office, functioning as the de facto main channel for coordination vis-à-vis the executive branches of the government and the security forces.
The report describes Khamenei’s hideout as a “fortified site with interconnected tunnels.”
On Thursday US President Donald Trump said that a “massive” naval force was heading toward Iran.
“We have a lot of ships going that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction. And we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters.
“We have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see,” Trump added.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, along with three destroyers, was spotted making its way to the Middle East from Asia, according to ship-tracking data.
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Israel, Syria to Finalize US-Brokered Security Deal ‘Soon,’ as ‘Developments Accelerate Noticeably’
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria, March 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – Syrian and Israeli officials are expected to meet soon under US mediation, perhaps in Paris, to finalize a security agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem, a source close to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told i24NEWS on Saturday.
According to the Syrian source, the talks will also focus on various potential joint strategic and economic projects in the buffer zones between the two countries.
“There is very optimistic talk suggesting the possibility of even opening an Israeli embassy in Damascus before the end of this year, given the significant progress in the prospect of Syria joining the Abraham Accords,” the source said.
The original Syrian plan was limited to a security agreement and the opening of an Israeli liaison office in Damascus without diplomatic status, the source tells me. “But developments are accelerating noticeably under pressure from the United States, and specifically by President Trump, and amid growing Syrian openness.”
If Damascus manages to reach an integration agreement with the Druze in southern Syria, similar to its agreement with the Kurds in the northeast, and Israel commits to respecting Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, then al-Sharaa would be open to elevate the status of the agreement with Israel to more than just a security agreement, to also include diplomatic relations and an Israeli embassy in Damascus.
“The al-Sharaa government believes that a viable compromise to advance a peace process with Israel would include a 25-year lease for the Golan Heights, similar to the one Jordan previously signed with Israel over the border enclaves, turning it into a ‘Garden of Peace” of joint economic ventures,” the source said.
The source close to al-Sharaa also tells me that US President Trump is seeking to bring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Al-Sharaa together for a peace agreement signing ceremony.
It should be noted that Israel has repeatedly rejected returning any part of the Golan Heights, let alone the entire territory.
On another front, the source stated that Damascus intends to adopt a new local administration system based on expanded administrative decentralization to enhance participation in local communities across all Syrian governorates.
According to the source, this solution would resolve persisting disputes with the Druze, Kurds, Alawites, and other minorities. A new Syrian government is expected to be formed within the next three months, the source added.