"This is the first time that the Israeli government officially separated the blood of Jews according to their origin," Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee head MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) said in response to the interview with Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer to The Jerusalem Post on Friday.
During the interview, Sofer said that “I definitely want to put all of my efforts into the absorption of more immigrants from the Western countries, mainly the US and France.”
"Such discrimination by origin has never been done."
Oded Forer
"Such discrimination by origin has never been done," Forer said. Forer, who used to be the director general of the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, added that "if Sofer would examine the budget that his office supports for organizations that encourage aliyah, he will find that even today, the highest investment [per immigrant] is actually in the US, with very low results.
"I expect the national institutions, the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization, to raise a red flag and announce that the Zionist movement will not discriminate between Jews according to the country of origin, and will work to encourage aliyah from all over the world, regardless of gender or origin, and in addition will continue to work to save the Jewish people from situations of distress."
How will the Aliyah and Integration Ministry change under Ofir Sofer?
One of the main changes expected in the Aliyah and Integration Ministry under Sofer’s leadership could have already been noticed in the coalition agreements between the parties. As published a month ago, the RZP demanded a NIS 350 million budget for the ministry, which would be dedicated to aliyah from the US and France.
![SOFER: I AM aware of the sensitivities [of the ‘grandchild clause’], and when the amendment is made, it will be done in a very sensitive way, with a lot of listening to Diaspora Jewry and a broad public discourse. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/t_JD_ArticleMainImageFaceDetect/526456 "SOFER: I AM aware of the sensitivities [of the ‘grandchild clause’], and when the amendment is made, it will be done in a very sensitive way, with a lot of listening to Diaspora Jewry and a broad public discourse. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)")
After decades in which the ministry was ruled by Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu Party, which is composed mainly of olim from the former Soviet Union, with a break of a few years when the ministry was run by the Blue and White Party, Sofer intends to put an emphasis on aliyah from Western countries, mainly, as mentioned, the US and France.
Sofer added in the interview that olim outside the FSU were deprived of the rights they deserve. “There is an assumption that olim from financially established countries don’t need any support or assistance. That isn’t true. The challenges of absorption are difficult for everyone. Many times [olim] have to live a less comfortable life, compromise in the jobs that they take and at times suffer from personal and social issues.”