Moscow
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meeting immigrant soldiers
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Returning to mother Russia
Israeli embassy in Moscow estimates: 50,000 Israelis living in Russia – significant surge in numbers compared to 7,500 three years ago
About 50,000 Israelis live in Russia, the Israeli Embassy in Moscow estimated in a report submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office.
The report was piled by the Embassy's consular department which gives services to Israelis living in Russia.
According to the Russian Central Bureau of Statistics, 28,500 Israeli immigrated to Russia since the early 90s.
The Israeli Embassy says however that thousands of Israelis living in Russia have not applied for immigration and therefore are unaccounted for as immigrants.
In 2003 the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption estimated that 7,500 Israelis live in Russia. The figures point to a six-fold increase in the number of Israelis who made Russia their home over the last four years.
The Embassy links the phenomenon to the improvement of the Russian economy and the unstable security situation in Israel.
5 percent returned
Israeli officials said that 99 percent of Israelis who leave for Russia are Russian immigrants who returned to their homeland or Israelis who spend their time between Moscow and Tel Aviv."Israeli presence in Russia is very salient. There is no place you go to – companies in the internet sector, banking, insurance, advertising and the media - where you don't find Russian-speaking Israelis," said one official.
The Passport Forum, set up by the Israeli Embassy for expatriates, held a conference of 600 individuals on March 28, 2006. The Forum convened again this summer and participants donated money to rebuild a kindergarten in Shlomi which was damaged during the war with Hizbullah.
Many Israeli own restaurants in the Russian capital, specialized in Mediterranean food.
The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption said in response: "The State of Israel regrets the decision of each immigrant who chooses to leave the country."
The Ministry noted that less than 5 percent of the 1.2 million Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel since the early nineties returned to Russia, saying the government is seeking to narrow the figure.
