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Aliyah from Britain falls for third year in a row

2018 emigration figure to Israel is 30 per cent less than three years before

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Aliyah from Britain has dropped for a third year in succession, according to figures from the Jewish Agency.

The number of UK Jews who left for a new life in Israel in 2018 was 534, slightly down from 550 in 2017 and considerably fewer than the 729 in 2016 and 770 in 2015.

However, last year’s total matches the annual average of  around 500 from Britain since 2004.

Aliyah rose worldwide by more than five per cent last year, with more than half of the 30,300 immigrants coming from Russia and Ukraine - although there was a 25 per cent drop on the previous year from France.

Rising concern about antisemitism in Britain has yet to translate into emigration to the Jewish state.

Nearly a third of British Jews said they were considering leaving the UK because they did not feel safe, according to a report published last year by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency.

Aliyah has got off to a slow start from the UK this year with 60 new immigrants compared to 77 over the same period last year, although Jewish Agency officials say it is too early to forecast for the year as a whole.

No reason has been given for the dip in UK aliyah - but the fall in the pound against the Israeli shekel since mid-2016 may be one factor.

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