Israel’s First Immigrant Family Of 2026 Comes From Australia Amid Shifts In Jewish Migration | World News

TEL AVIV: The Sachs family from Sydney, Australia — father Trevor, mother Dalit and daughter Ashira — became Israel’s first immigrants in 2026 after arriving at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday amid trends pointing to increased Jewish immigration from Western countries.

Welcoming the Minister of Immigration and Immigration Ofir Sofer upon landing, the three people received their Israeli identity cards and officially started their new lives in the country. The family’s son, Levi Sachs, emigrated before them and joined the Israel Defense Forces.

“The Sachs family’s decision to immigrate to Israel is gratifying and encouraging, especially as their son serves in the IDF. We work for aliyah.” [immigration] Sofer said that they enabled Australian Jews to go to Israel and that they have taken important steps for this purpose and will continue to do so.

The arrival of the Sachs family will bring approximately 22,000 immigrants to Israel in 2025. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), approximately 21,900 people moved to Israel last year; this represents only a third of the previous year’s total.

Signifying a change in the global pattern of Jewish immigration, immigration from Russia and Ukraine fell by half, while arrivals from the USA, England and France increased. Overall, North American aliyah increased by 13 percent, while French immigration increased by 45 percent, CBS reported.

The change is often attributed to increasing Western antisemitism. “The changing composition of new immigrants shows how Israel continues to attract Jews from around the world,” a ministry spokesman said. As of December 31, 2025, the population of Israel is 10,178,000.