There has been an almost 20 per cent increase in the number of people moving to Israel in the last year.

In total, 21,300 people from countries including Angola, Madagascar and South Korea have made aliyah since last Rosh Hashanah.

The Jewish Agency for Israel said the figure was a rise of 19 per cent. More than a third of those who settled in the country were aged between 18 and 34.

Natan Sharansky, the organisation's chairman, said: "The choice of thousands of Jews to build their homes here is the deepest expression of a diaspora Jew's identification with Israel."