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dolboedIsrael's immigrants pour out again as land fails to match its promise
From Ian MacKinnon in Jerusalem
WHEN Arkan Kariv landed in Israel 15 years ago it was a dream come true. A fervent Zionist, he was one of the original “refuseniks”, Soviet Jews refused permission to emigrate to Israel in the 1980s.
When the Soviet Union became fragmented in the 1990s Mr Kariv was finally free to move to Jerusalem where he made it big as a television star, hosting shows on the Russian language Channel Nine.
Two weeks ago he left Israel for good. The 41-year-old bachelor is back in Moscow seeking job interviews. He is following thousands of others who are leaving the Jewish homeland, exhausted by an economic slump and endless violence, in favour of their birthplace or fresh pastures with better opportunities.
“Suddenly Israel just became too small,” Mr Kariv said. “In the circles I moved in, more and more people are thinking like me. They’ve lived in Israel for ten years and find they’re not moving forward. They don’t see a better future there or the possibility of realising their goals.”
For a land built on immigration, the exodus of talent is a devastating trend, exacerbated by a dramatic drop in newcomers. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, has promoted the goal that the nation of 6.6 million should attract a million more people in the next decade. But immigration slumped to just 23,200 last year, the lowest since 1990.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1104326,00.html (membership required)
From Ian MacKinnon in Jerusalem
WHEN Arkan Kariv landed in Israel 15 years ago it was a dream come true. A fervent Zionist, he was one of the original “refuseniks”, Soviet Jews refused permission to emigrate to Israel in the 1980s.
When the Soviet Union became fragmented in the 1990s Mr Kariv was finally free to move to Jerusalem where he made it big as a television star, hosting shows on the Russian language Channel Nine.
Two weeks ago he left Israel for good. The 41-year-old bachelor is back in Moscow seeking job interviews. He is following thousands of others who are leaving the Jewish homeland, exhausted by an economic slump and endless violence, in favour of their birthplace or fresh pastures with better opportunities.
“Suddenly Israel just became too small,” Mr Kariv said. “In the circles I moved in, more and more people are thinking like me. They’ve lived in Israel for ten years and find they’re not moving forward. They don’t see a better future there or the possibility of realising their goals.”
For a land built on immigration, the exodus of talent is a devastating trend, exacerbated by a dramatic drop in newcomers. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, has promoted the goal that the nation of 6.6 million should attract a million more people in the next decade. But immigration slumped to just 23,200 last year, the lowest since 1990.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1104326,00.html (membership required)
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Date: 2004-05-11 05:58 am (UTC)