ISRAEL - The Regathering of the Exiles
In the early 1990s, the unprecedented wave of aliyah followed the fall of the USSR. A million olim came to Israel and ensured that the country would keep growing. Academics, doctors, teachers, and others pushed Israel to become an emerging country in the West and one of the most promising.
Israel is now on the verge of a similar opportunity. In 2025, a million Jews could arrive in Israel. A combination of tragic circumstances—the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, a nearly unprecedented rise in antisemitism and violence against Jews in the US and Europe, and an awakening of Zionist sentiments among the Jewish people—have created a historic opportunity for Zionism.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, over 30,000 Jewish people worldwide have applied for aliyah. Reports in the US say that since October 7, there has been an increase of 200% in antisemitic incidents. And on American campuses? We’ve seen the farce of leaders from the most prestigious universities in the US refusing to admit that calling for the murder of the Jewish people is racism. This might explain a rise of 500% in antisemitic incidents on campuses this past year.
The State of Israel must do two things immediately:
1. Launch a campaign to encourage aliyah. Use Israeli hasbara (public diplomacy) and communication platforms—both the official government one (which for some reason has yet to be established), and the unofficial one (social media influencers and the hasbara organizations that citizens have started this past year) to reach Jews worldwide through social media. Take advantage of the ability of the Jewish Agency and other international organizations to attract Jews from all over the world to Israel.
2. Set generous benefits for olim. The Aliyah and Integration Ministry should, through the finance minister, cancel the benefit cuts. Instead, the government should triple the size of the absorption basket that new olim receive. Olim who own many assets must be encouraged more, not less.
The goal: One million olim in 2025. It’s possible, it’s necessary, it’s time.
-www.jpost.com, 14 November 2024
Arno's Commentary
When thousands of cold-blooded murderers crossed from Gaza into Israel, they had one order to follow: kill Jews. Doubtless, this undertaking of 7 October 2023 was also designed to convince Jews in the Diaspora that Israel is unsafe. Quite the opposite happened.
What’s most strange is that governments the world over— at least those with a vestige of common sense—were expected to condemn the Hamas killers. The opposite actually happened.
In the United States, about a 500% increase in antisemitic incidents took place on college campuses in the past year. In France, some 38% of Jews are now considering leaving the country.
What we are witnessing today is the progressive fulfillment of Deuteronomy 30:1-5: “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
