Can Israel absorb tens of thousands of new immigrants from Ukraine and Russia in a very short time?

The war between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying, and millions of people are becoming refugees. Israel’s Law of Return grants automatic citizenship to Jews, their children and their grandchildren if they request it. It is now thought that at least 50,000 Ukrainians and Russians will want to exercise this right.

Throughout its history, Israel has absorbed even larger waves of immigrants. In its first three years since its independence in 1948, an estimated 700,000 immigrants came to Israel. At the time, the country had no choice but to house many of these new immigrants in tents. Then in the 1990s, with the fall of the Iron Curtain, another 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union arrived, causing a major housing and employment crisis.

But Israel now has a robust economy. Theoretically, it should have no problem absorbing tens of thousands of new immigrants. But over the last two days, the media has been flooded with chilling videos showing chaos at Ben Gurion Airport, where immigration officials from the Interior Ministry have started separating Jews, who are entitled to immigrate to Israel, and non-Jewish arrivals, who are being accepted temporarily as refugees. It is a daunting task, involving tedious documentation. As a result, it takes hours for new arrivals from Ukraine and Russia to get past that hurdle. In too many cases, the new arrivals are forced to sleep on the floor, with no access to showers or clean clothing. A few elderly arrivals have even passed out and required medical attention.