Russian Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Russian Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number a core population of around 900,000, and enlarged population of up to 1,200,000, if including Halakhally non-Jewish members of Jewish households.
Contents
History
The largest number of Russian Jews now live in Israel, not in Russia. Israel is home to a core Russian-Jewish population of 900,000 and an enlarged population of 1,200,000 (including Halakhally non-Jewish members of Jewish households, but excluding those who reside in Israel illegally). The Aliyah in the 1990s accounts for 85–90% of this population. The population growth rate for Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants were among the lowest for any Israeli groups, with a Fertility rate of 1.70 and natural increase of just +0.5% per year. The increase in Jewish birth rate in Israel during the 2000–2007 period was partly due to the increasing birth rate among the FSU immigrants, who now form 20% of the Jewish population of Israel. 96.5% of the enlarged Russian Jewish population in Israel is either Jewish or non-religious, while 3.5% (35,000) belongs to other religions (mostly Christians) and about 10,000 messianic Jews.
The Total Fertility Rate for FSU immigrants in Israel is given in the table below. The TFR increased with time, peaking in 1997, then slightly decreased after that and then again increased after 2000.
In 1999, about 1,037,000 FSU immigrants lived in Israel, of whom about 738,900 immigrated after 1989. The second largest ethnic group (Moroccans) numbered just 1,000,000. From 2000–2006, 142,638 FSU immigrants moved to Israel. While 70,000 of them emigrated from Israel to countries like the U.S. and Canada, bringing the total population to 1,150,000 by 2007 January (Excluding illegals). The natural increase was around 0.3% in late 1990s. For example, 2,456 in 1996 (7,463 births to 5,007 deaths), 2,819 in 1997 (8,214 to 5,395), 2,959 in 1998 (8,926 to 5,967) and 2,970 in 1999 (9,282 to 6,312). In 1999, the natural growth was +0.385%. (Figures only for FSU immigrants moved in after 1989).
An estimated 45,000 illegal immigrants from the Former Soviet Union lived in Israel during the end of 2010, but it is not clear how many of them are actually Jews.
Currently, Russia has the highest rate of aliyah to Israel among any other country. In 2013, 7,520 people, nearly 40% of all olim, immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. In 2015, nearly 7,000 or just over twenty percent of all olim came from the former Soviet Union.
4,500 immigrants made aliyah from Russia as of September 22, 2014, a 22 percent increase from the country from the previous year. In 2014, aliyah from the former Soviet Union went up 50% from the previous year with some 11,430 people or approximately 43% of all olim made aliyah from the former Soviet Union, propelled from the increase from Ukraine with some 5,840 new immigrants have come from Ukraine over the course of the year.
Demographics
Russian-speaking Jews in Israel include an enlarged population of 1,200,000 if including Halakhally non-Jewish members of Jewish households.
Ethnic Jews
Soviet and Russian-origin Jews form a core population of around 900,000 in Israel as of 2007.
Mixed families
Some 300,000 Halakhally non-Jewish members of Jewish households lived in Israel as of 2007.