"Lawlessness", anti-Semitism and Aliyah 
4 September 2020

A weekly reflection on current global affairs concerning Israel and
the Jewish people from a Biblical perspective. 

The number of Jews returning to Israel from the Americas is on the increase, and this appears to be connected to a rise in anti-Semitism, which itself has many causes. One of them, arguably, is a break-down of law and order in some countries. 

The US is perhaps the most obvious example, where the wave of violence in recent months has led to a rise in anti-Semitic incidents. There is a debate about whether this anti-Semitism is caused by the right wing racism, or left-wing liberalism. Jonathan Tobin argues that the root cause of the unrest and accompanying anti-Semitism is not racism, as some claim, but the “breakdown of the rule of law” instigated by those who promote and even incite violence to tear down existing structures. In Biblical terms, we would refer to this as “lawlessness”. 

There is also a rise in anti-Semitism in Latin America. According to The Jewish Agency, “the Corona pandemic has deeply shocked all of Mexico and the Jewish community is suffering from a double blow – not only are most Jewish households suffering economically, with many Jewish businesses seeing a decrease of 70% in their income – but they are also the increasing target for abduction and anti-Semitic threats.” The Jewish Agency has reported that from the beginning of 2020 through July, it has facilitated the Aliyah of 2,269 olim from Latin America compared with 1,839 during the same period last year, an increase of 23.3 percent. For Mexico in particular, The Jewish Agency has opened 493 Aliyah cases since January, an increase of 32 percent from last year. 

Whatever the cause of anti-Semitism, the overall result is an increase of immigration into Israel. According to Chairman of The Jewish Agency Isaac Herzog, “today we’re seeing the beginning of a wave of immigrants to the State of Israel that will absorb about a quarter of a million new immigrants over the next five years, including young people, academics, entrepreneurs and professionals. This will be a diverse Aliyah from around the world that can also help spur economic growth.”