Largest Wave of New Immigrants in 20 Years, Jewish Population Reaches 7 Million

Author: Published: September 25, 2022

by Sharon Wrobel

Israel has accepted almost 60,000 new immigrants over the past Jewish year, the highest number in 20 years mainly driven by an influx of Russians and Ukrainians seeking refuge from the war between the two countries.

During the Jewish calendar year 5782, a total of 26,000 olim – Hebrew word for new immigrants – were absorbed from Russia and 14,000 from Ukraine as Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to data released by the Jewish Agency on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. During the period between Sept. 1, 2021, and Sept. 1, 2022, immigrants were welcomed from 93 countries. A total of 3,800 immigrants arrived from the US and Canada; 2,500 from France; 1,600 from Belarus; 1,450 from Ethiopia; 1,100 from Argentina; 600 from the United Kingdom; 500 from South Africa and 400 from Brazil, according to the data.

The close to 9.6 million people currently residing in Israel are expected to top 10 million people by the end of 2024, 15 million people by the end of 2048 and more than double to 20 million residents by the end of 2065, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said in data released last week.

On the eve of the Jewish new year of 5783, the world’s Jewish population stands at about 15.3 million, growing by 100,000 from the year before, according to Jewish Agency data. Israel is the location of the largest concentration of Jews in the world, numbering 7.08 million or 46.2 percent of the world’s Jewry. About 8.25 million Jews live outside the country, including around 6 million in the United States.

Another 442,000 Jews live in France, 394,000 in Canada, and 292,000 in Great Britain. A further 145,000 Jews reside in Russia, and 40,000 in Ukraine while Germany is home to 118,000 Jews. The data also found that around 14,300 Jews live in Turkey.

US warns Putin of ‘catastrophic’ consequences if nuclear weapons used in Ukraine

Author: Published: September 25, 2022

“This is not a bluff,” Putin said in the remarks viewed on the world stage as a threat on the potential use of nuclear weapons.

By REUTERS
Published: SEPTEMBER 25, 2022 19:17
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks to reporters during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, July 11, 2022. (photo credit: REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE/FILE PHOTO)
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks to reporters during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, July 11, 2022.
(photo credit: REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE/FILE PHOTO)

The United States would respond decisively to any Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine and has spelled out to Moscow the “catastrophic consequences” it would face, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.

Sullivan’s remarks represented the latest American warning following the thinly veiled nuclear threat made by Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in a speech in which the Russian president also announced his country’s first wartime military mobilization since World War Two.

“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively.”

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan

“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively,” Sullivan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

Sullivan did not describe the nature of the planned US response in his comments on Sunday but said the United States has privately to Moscow “spelled out in greater detail exactly what that would mean.” Sullivan said that the United States has been in frequent, direct contact with Russia, including during the last few days to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Putin’s actions and threats.

US President Joe Biden in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday accused Putin of making “overt nuclear threats against Europe” in reckless disregard for nuclear nonproliferation responsibilities.

US President Joe Biden addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, September 21, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)US President Joe Biden addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, September 21, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)

Russia holds referenda in conquered Ukraine regions

Russia also is staging a referendum in four eastern Ukrainian regions with the goal of annexing territory that Russian forces have taken during their invasion of Ukraine launched in February. Ukraine and its allies have called the referendums a sham designed to justify an escalation of the war and Putin’s mobilization drive after recent battlefield losses.

By incorporating the areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into Russia, Moscow could portray attacks to retake them as an attack on Russia itself, a warning to Ukraine and its Western allies.

After suffering setbacks on the battlefield, Putin is mobilizing 300,000 troops while also threatening to use “all available means” to protect Russia.

“This is not a bluff,” Putin said in the remarks viewed on the world stage as a threat on the potential use of nuclear weapons.

Sullivan said on Sunday: “Putin remains intent … on wiping out the Ukraine people that he does not believe have a right to exist. So he’s going to keep coming and we have to keep coming with weapons, ammunition, intelligence and all the support we can provide.”

Israel on high alert as Palestinian violence escalates ahead of Rosh Hashanah

Author: Published: September 25, 2022

Palestinian shot dead after ramming attack, and while no soldier was injured, a police officer was slightly injured.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM Published: SEPTEMBER 24, 2022 15:17

Israeli security forces at the scene of a suspected ramming attack against a group of soldiers patrolling near West Bank city of Nablus, on September 24, 2022 (photo credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli security forces at the scene of a suspected ramming attack against a group of soldiers patrolling near West Bank city of Nablus, on September 24, 2022 (photo credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli security forces at the scene of a suspected ramming attack against a group of soldiers patrolling near West Bank city of Nablus, on September 24, 2022
(photo credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Heading into Rosh Hashanah and the holiday season, the IDF and police are on high alert due to a rise in shooting attacks by Palestinian gunmen against the IDF and Israeli civilians.

On Saturday, a Palestinian man was shot dead after ramming his car into a police vehicle in the northern West Bank, near Nablus. According to the IDF, troops and police “identified a suspicious vehicle that accelerated toward them and tried to run them over” near the settlement of Havat Gilad.

“An IDF soldier opened fire at the vehicle. The terrorist was neutralized,” the military added.

While no soldier was injured, a police officer was slightly injured.

The Palestinian Authority identified the driver as Muhammad Ali Hussein Awad, 36, from the West Bank town of Beit Ijza near Jerusalem.

Scene of stabbing attack near Modi’in, September 22, 2022 (credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
Scene of stabbing attack near Modi’in, September 22, 2022 (credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
“The Israeli police deliberately shot Awad, with the aim of killing him, after his vehicle collided with a police vehicle in a traffic accident,” a PA spokesman said, accusing Israel of killing a “defenseless Palestinian” who was not “posing any danger.”

To counter the terror wave, the Israeli military has intensified its arrest raids against Palestinians suspected of terrorism as part of Operation Break the Wave.

IDF and Shin Bet apprehend terrorists
On Friday, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced that they had solved a series of shooting attacks in the West Bank and arrested a number of Palestinians belonging to a cell directed by Hamas.

In one attack on September 9, an Israeli man was lightly injured after shots were fired at his vehicle as he drove by the Palestinian village of Einabus near Nablus.

The cell fired 11 bullets at two Israeli vehicles from a passing car, the Shin Bet said in a statement.

“The investigation of the suspects is still underway, but from all the information we have, a Hamas military squad, directed by Hamas operatives from the Gaza Strip, is responsible for carrying out the attack.”

Shin Bet
“The investigation of the suspects is still underway, but from all the information we have, a Hamas military squad, directed by Hamas operatives from the Gaza Strip, is responsible for carrying out the attack.”

The agency confiscated the weapons used in the attacks, along with ammunition.

“The Shin Bet, along with the IDF and Israel Police, will continue to work to thwart attempts by Hamas to promote terror activity against Israel and will make them pay a price for their [terror] infrastructure,” the statement said.

Security forces also arrested a Palestinian teenager who carried out a shooting attack against the settlement of Carmel in the south Hebron hills on September 15. An Israeli teenager studying at a yeshiva in the settlement was moderately wounded in the attack.

According to the IDF, security forces located the M-16 rifle used in the attack the next day. The teenager, from the town of a-Zubaidat who confessed to the attack, was arrested last Saturday near the Palestinian village of Um Daraj, two days after the attack.

Data released by the Shin Bet showed there were at least 23 shooting attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem in August, up from 15 in July.

At least 15 Israeli civilians and security personnel were wounded during the August attacks, prompting deployment of an extra battalion of Golani forces to the area.

Additional battalions will be sent to other parts of the West Bank during the holidays to prevent attacks.

Security forces have increased their level of alertness due to the increased violence. There have been close to 10 attacks this past week, with at least two shooting attacks in the northern West Bank early Thursday morning near the settlement of Har Bracha. Another shooting attack against the settlement took place early Friday morning, damaging a home.

As security forces increase their alert level, an extra battalion of Golani forces will be immediately deployed to the northern West Bank in the face of a rise in shooting attacks in the area by Palestinian gunmen.

Additional battalions will be sent to other parts of the West Bank during the holidays to prevent attacks.

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