Eighty-three-year-old Holocaust survivors Arnold and Bella Betkin, who were rescued by Israel from the bombed-out Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, have recently immigrated to the Jewish state.
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The many Israelis who read about their rescue online, could not help but be moved by the fact that the couple had to flee for safety and become refugees for the second time in their lives.
Contrary to how things stood after World War II, the Jewish people are strong now, so much so that there were Ukrainians who called the emergency line of the Jewish Agency to try their luck, even though they have no connection to the Jewish people.
It should not be taken for granted that Arnold and Bella were rescued from hell: no one fought for them during the Holocaust, because there was no sovereign and democratic Jewish state with enough global power and reach to help every Jew in trouble.
In cooperation with the government and state institutions, the Jewish Agency led Israel's largest rescue and immigration operation since the 1990s.
So far this year, almost 55,000 people have immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return, compared to the 33,247 immigrants to the Jewish state in 2019.
The driving factor for this is the geopolitical crisis caused by the Ukraine war, but regardless, it is up to Israel to assist them in their time of need and welcome them as best as possible.
Israel excels at encouraging aliyah but could do better when it comes to integrating new immigrants. A diligent and smart politician could double the number of olim to 100,000 a year.
Unfortunately, many Russian and Ukrainian Jews decided to move to other countries in Europe, instead of immigrating to Israel.
I am not willing to accept the "whoever doesn't want to come, let them be" reasoning. We must become the best option and provide those Jewish refugees – and any potential immigrant for that matter – with an opportunity for a livelihood and living conditions that will allow them to live in Israel with dignity.
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Unfortunately, about 10,000 Ukrainian Jews decided in the past year to immigrate to Germany and join the Jewish communities there, according to the Jerusalem Post. And less than 15,000 Ukrainian Jews have moved to Israel since the outbreak of the war.
How can it be that Germany, with whom we have such a complex history, is a more desired option for Ukrainian Jews than Israel?
As coalition negotiations focus on the roles of defense and finance minister, I urge you, Knesset members and party leaders, to seek the aliyah portfolio and demand an increased budget to transform this field.
You have a historic opportunity to bring an extraordinary number of immigrants to Israel, and walk in the footsteps of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who said, "I love my people and the Land of Israel: this is my credo, this is the work of my life, and I no longer need anything in the world."
