The decision to make Aliyah can take years. But once the ticket is booked and the suitcases are packed, questions about identity and belonging quickly give way to much more practical ones.
What do you do when you land? Which documents do you need? How do you choose a health fund, open a bank account, transfer money, find work or rent a home? And if something happens in the middle of the night, who do you call?
Today, September 8, ynet Global is holding its Global Aliyah Live Summit, a day of broadcasts devoted to answering those questions and helping prospective and newly arrived immigrants understand what life in Israel actually looks like after the plane lands.
Follow the live broadcasts and continuing coverage on this page throughout the day.
The summit brings together senior public officials, Aliyah and absorption organizations, specialists in healthcare, banking, employment and housing, and new immigrants who are experiencing the process firsthand.
Broadcasts will be held in Russian, English and French, with coverage also appearing across ynet and ynet Global.
Today’s broadcast schedule, Israel time
13:00-14:00 — Live broadcast in Russian, in cooperation with Vesti
14:00-17:00 — Live broadcast in English on ynet Global and ynet
17:00-18:00 — Live broadcast in French on ynet Global
You landed in Israel. What happens next?
One of the summit’s central discussions focuses on the first 24 hours after Aliyah, when months or years of planning suddenly become reality.
After the flight, the welcome and the first photo in Israel comes a new challenge: navigating a bureaucracy and public-service system that can be unfamiliar even to people who prepared extensively before arriving.
Which documents do new immigrants receive? What must be done immediately and what can wait? When should they register with a health fund, open a bank account or begin dealing with government offices? What benefits are available and how are they accessed?
Today’s summit brings those steps together, giving new immigrants a practical guide to the first days of building a life in Israel.
What should be done before the flight?
Some of the most important preparations begin before an oleh ever reaches Ben Gurion Airport.
The summit will address which documents should be brought to Israel, what arrangements should be made with banks overseas, what to do with savings and other assets abroad and when to begin looking for work.
New immigrants will also discuss the less technical side of leaving: saying goodbye to family and friends, leaving a job, packing a home and confronting the uncertainty of having to build a new routine in another country.
Money, banking and buying a home
Opening an Israeli bank account can raise questions that go far beyond simply choosing a branch.
A financial panel featuring experts and representatives including Bank Leumi and mortgage advisers will examine how newcomers should navigate the Israeli financial system.
Among the issues: transferring money from abroad, handling overseas income and assets, understanding Israel’s credit system, foreign currency and international transfer fees.
The summit will also look ahead to one of the largest financial decisions many olim eventually face: buying a home in Israel.
Mortgage advisers will discuss what new immigrants should know before entering the Israeli property market and what needs to be checked before taking out a mortgage.
Bringing your career to Israel
For many new immigrants, moving countries also means confronting the possibility of starting again professionally.
A doctor, engineer, teacher, executive, entrepreneur or tech professional may arrive with a decade or more of experience only to discover that the Israeli job market does not automatically recognize the career they built overseas.
Employment specialists taking part in the summit will discuss when to start searching for work, how to adapt a résumé for Israel, how to build a local professional network and which professions require Israeli licensing.
The sessions will also address entrepreneurship, retraining and starting a business.
The goal is not simply to help olim find their first Israeli job, but to help them preserve and use the skills and experience they already have.
Healthcare and the number every newcomer should know
Israel’s healthcare system can also require an adjustment for immigrants arriving from countries with very different models of medical care.
Representatives from Clalit Health Services will explain how to join a health fund, choose a doctor, make appointments and begin using the services available to new immigrants.
The summit will also cover medical emergencies.
A dedicated segment will explain what happens when someone calls Magen David Adom at **101**, what information dispatchers need and what newcomers should expect from Israel’s emergency medical system.
Among the many new numbers an oleh needs to learn, 101 is one worth knowing from the first day.
Hearing from olim themselves
The summit is not only about officials and experts.
New immigrants at different stages of the Aliyah process will discuss what surprised them after arriving, what proved more difficult than expected, where bureaucracy caused problems and what they wish they had known before boarding the plane.
They will also talk about finding jobs and apartments, building communities and adjusting to everyday Israeli life.
That firsthand perspective is central to today’s event. Sometimes the most useful advice for someone preparing to make Aliyah comes from someone who made the same move only weeks or months earlier.
The organizations behind Aliyah
The Global Aliyah Live Summit features representatives from many of the major organizations involved in bringing immigrants to Israel and helping them integrate, including the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the World Zionist Organization, Keren Hayesod, Ofek Israeli, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Clalit Health Services, Bank Leumi, the Jerusalem Municipality, Masa Israel Journey and Magen David Adom.
Participants also include the minister of Aliyah and Integration and the chairman of the Jewish Agency, who will address the broader questions surrounding immigration to Israel: Who is making Aliyah today? What has changed in recent waves? What barriers remain? And what does Israel need to do not only to bring new immigrants to the country, but to help them build successful lives once they arrive?
Aliyah does not end at the airport
ynet Global’s Global Aliyah project has followed prospective and new immigrants throughout the year with guides, personal stories and practical information about life in Israel.
Today, that conversation goes live.
The summit is designed for those who have already booked their flights, those planning Aliyah in the coming months and those still sitting in Paris, London, New York, Toronto, Moscow or elsewhere wondering whether the time has come.
Throughout the day, the broadcasts will address the large and small questions behind starting a new life: work, money, healthcare, housing, bureaucracy, community and belonging.
Watch the Global Aliyah Live Summit and follow continuing coverage on this page throughout the day.
Because Aliyah does not end when you land at Ben Gurion Airport.
That is where it really begins.