In a survey of economically advanced countries conducted by the Pew Research Center, Israel was one of just three countries in which the majority of respondents did not support the immigration of highly trained foreigners who would not be entitled to citizenship.
According to the study, 51 percent of Israelis oppose the immigration of highly skilled or highly educated foreigners who would not be eligible to live in Israel according to the Law of Return, meaning that they have at least one Jewish grandparent.
Italy and the Netherlands were the only other countries that gave similar results.
In contrast, 78 percent of Americans and 85 percent of British citizens supported skilled immigration, as did more than three-quarters of adults in Canada, Germany, Sweden and Australia.
Among the surveyed countries, Israel has the highest percentage of immigrants with higher education—almost half of foreign-born adults making aliyah to Israel have a graduate degree.
Israel’s immigration package also provides large subsidies for bachelor’s, master’s and technical degrees for those eligible for aliyah under the law of return.
