Australian Jews in Israel

Australian Jews in Israel refers to Australian-born individuals of Jewish descent, who have emigrated to Israel (Aliyah in Jewish communities). Jews understand Aliyah to be a spiritual journey as a result of their emotional connection to the land of their people. Since 1950, when the Law of Return was passed by the Israeli Knesset (parliament), diasporic Jews have been given legal provisions to acquire citizenship in Israel based on their Jewish heritage. The total population of Israel, as of December 2019, was 9,316,000 and, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, there were roughly 10,000–12,000 Australians living in Israel, suggested by data from the most recent census that was held in 2016.

History

In 1948, the State of Israel was established, allowing Jews from around the world to make Aliyah, without difficulty. Many understood the establishment of Israel as a public way of making up for the atrocities of the Holocaust. When the Jews in the concentration camps were released at the end of World War II, the large majority of them were forced to immigrate to other nations, however, due to the difficulty of gaining access into Israel, many fled elsewhere, including Australia, who received between 7000 and 8000 Jewish refugees from countries including Germany, Czechoslovakia and Austria. These migration patterns led to Australian Jews feeling a strong connection to the State of Israel, as they had a land that was known as the land of the Jewish people on a global scale. Prior to the establishment of Israel, the land was home to approximately 600,000 Jews, however, by 2007 the total number of Jews living in Israel was 5.5 million. According to census data that was released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on 31 December 2019, there were 9,136,000 people living in Israel and 74.1% were Jewish.