Like the United States, Israel is in
large part a nation of immigrants. Israel has welcomed
newcomers inspired by Zionism, the Jewish national
liberation movement. Zionism is an expression of the
Jewish yearning to live in their historical homeland,
the Land of Israel. The largest numbers of immigrants
have come to Israel from countries in the Middle East
and Europe where Jews have been persecuted.
The United States has played a special
role in assisting Israel with the complex task of
absorbing and assimilating masses of immigrants in
short periods of time. Soon after Israel's War of
Independence, President Truman offered $135 million
in loans to help Israel cope with the arrival of thousands
of refugees from the Holocaust. Within the first three
years of Israel's establishment, the number of immigrants
more than doubled the Jewish population of the country.
Top:
Holocaust survivors disembark at the Haifa port. Below:
Jews from the Soviet Union arrive in Israel.
Mass immigrations have continued throughout Israeli
history. Since 1989, Israel absorbed approximately
one million Jews from the former Soviet Union. The
United States worked with Israel to bring Jews from
Arab countries, Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union
to Israel, and has assisted in their absorption into
Israeli society.
