One hundred and twenty-eight new immigrants from France landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Monday evening aboard a special flight marking the start of the 2026 summer “aliyah” season—the Hebrew term for Jewish immigration to Israel.
“Immigration to Israel is the beating heart of the Jewish story,” said Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, chairman of the Jewish Agency. “At a time when Israeli society is facing heavy challenges and carrying a difficult burden on its shoulders, aliyah takes on an even deeper meaning. Every immigrant who comes here builds another pillar in our shared future.”
The Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organization, organized the flight in cooperation with Israel’s Immigration and Absorption Ministry.
The youngest new arrivals were three-month-old twins Kara and Avital, while the oldest was 73-year-old Max, who traveled with his daughter’s family, including five-month-old grandson Menachem.
According to the ministry and the Jewish Agency, Monday’s arrivals are part of a broader wave of immigration that has continued since the Hamas-led terror attack of Oct. 7, 2023. More than 67,100 immigrants from dozens of countries have moved to Israel during that period, roughly a third of them being age 35 or below.
Immigration from France has surged during that period. France sent 1,097 immigrants to Israel in 2023, a figure that doubled to 2,234 in 2024 and climbed further to 3,357 in 2025—an increase of more than 200% over two years. So far in 2026, approximately 790 French immigrants have arrived, compared with roughly 690 during the same period last year. In total, more than 6,500 immigrants from France have moved to Israel since Oct. 7.
French immigration is also reflected in the number of immigration files opened at the Jewish Agency’s Global Aliyah Center, which is supported by the ministry. More than 75,000 Jews worldwide have opened immigration files since Oct. 7, including approximately 18,500 from France. Roughly 2,500 of those French files were opened since the start of 2026, a 30% rise over the same period last year.
Additional flights this summer are expected to bring thousands of new immigrants to Israel, including families arriving ahead of the new school year. Among Monday’s arrivals were 65 children and teenagers set to enroll in Israeli schools, including eight toddlers under age two. Nearly one-third of the new immigrants are expected to settle in the coastal city of Netanya, while others will move to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ra’anana, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheva.
“Precisely in the days when the State of Israel is facing challenges, the immigrants chose to be part of the Israeli story to strengthen our society and build their home here,” said Immigration Ministry Director-General Deganit Sanker Lange.
Israel recorded a sharp drop in Jewish immigration in 2025 while simultaneously seeing a significant surge in arrivals from Western countries, according to government data released in June. Officials pointed to rising antisemitism abroad and the country’s ongoing war as twin forces reshaping who is choosing to move there.
A study of international Jewish demographics released in May found that Israel could become home to the majority of the world’s Jews within the next decade. At current growth rates, the report—released by the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research—projects that Israel could cross the symbolic threshold of hosting the majority of the world’s Jews as early as 2035.
