Knesset to make Aliyah promotion more effective – NOT!
Two members of the Israeli Parliament MKs Gilad Erdan (Likud) and Yoel Hasson (Kadima) proposed that Aliyah organizations work more closely with the government and its bureaucrats. They explain that such a move would turn government officials and their offices into a type of “hub” which will then direct policies and coordinate actions aimed at getting more people to move to Israel.So basically their idea is to create more government bureaucracy in order to speed up the Aliyah process. . .
Is it any wonder why the current situation in Israel is so far down the tubes? Israeli parliament members can’t help the thousands of people in Sderot who are suffering under the daily barrage of missiles. Statistics show that poverty levels in Israel have reached the highest rate ever; one of every 2 children is living below the poverty line, a poverty line that was defined by clueless fat cat bureaucrats. And go ahead, try to find a parliament member who hasn’t been investigated for corruption, I dare you.
There is a way to make Aliyah to Israel easier, faster, and most of all, more financially interesting. The Israeli government needs to make life for the Jews already living in Israel easier. Think about it. The majority of Jews living in Israel have a tough time. Making a living in Israel is very hard. Getting anything done is a hassle. Government lines are long, bureaucracy is thick, and the average government worker is highly under skilled and under motivated. This concludes with a quality of living which is substandard to say the least.
Now to a well-to-do Jewish American who is thinking about Aliyah, Zionism will only go so far. Why should he give up his high standard of living, make Aliyah, and then get stuck paying high taxes on an underpaid job in Israel. Maybe government officials should be more concerned about enriching the state (i.e. its citizens) which would in turn make Israel more attractive in the eyes of potential Olim.
Tags: Aliyah, bureaucrats, Israel government, job in Israel, poverty in Israel, Sderot, Zionism
May 19th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
In answer to why well-to-do Americans should bother making aliyah…economics have never been a reason to make aliyah and there have still been plenty of well-off people making aliyah from the US. They make aliyah because there is nowhere else in the world to live such a rich Jewish life, among many other reasons, ranging from a better childhood for their children to fullfilling the mitzvah to live in Israel. There are also plenty of people who made aliyah long before these oleh organizations were even around to do hand-holding through the immigrationa nd absorption process. As for low-paying jobs, it all depends…first of all, certainly if you don’t have training in a field that is in high demand over there, it’s going to be difficult. Just because salaries are lower there than in the US doesn’t necessarily mean they are underpaying people over there, though. The costs of daily living are significantly different, so that needs to be taken into consideration. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for getting rid of as much government bureaucracy as possible (especially after waiting for what seems like an eternity for passports so we can make aliyah soon) but I don’t want people to think it’s necessary to put off making aliyah just because of that. If Zionism only takes a person so far that it falls short of making aliyah, then they don’t belong there anyway. It would be a shame to pick up and move your whole life and spends huge amounts of money to do so, only to turn around and come back to the States…
May 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am
08aliyah:
You make good points. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that without some sort of “spiritual” belief (i.e. not monetary) the dream of someone’s Aliyah can prove disasterous and, as you say, perhaps hasten the journey back to North America. However, that being said, in todays world, where there are many programs available to receive some financial incentives as well, I would think that the government, et. al would want to join in to push someones maybe border “spiritual reasoning” over the edge and make Aliyah that much easier. What do you think?