By 1951, the number of immigrants more than doubled the Jewish population of the country in 1948. With the gates wide open after statehood was declared, a wave of mass immigration brought 687,000 Jews to Israel's shores. This was followed in 1950 by the Law of Return, which granted every Jew the automatic right to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen of the state. The Proclamation of the Establishment of the State of Israel stated: "The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and the ingathering of the exiles it will foster the development of the country for all its inhabitants it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed. This was the first of the modern waves of aliyah (literally "going up") that were to transform the face of the country. In response to continued oppression and persecution of Jews in eastern Europe and disillusionment with emancipation in Western Europe, and inspired by Zionist ideology, Jews immigrated to Palestine toward the end of the nineteenth century. Zionism, the political movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland, founded in the late 19th century, derives its name from word "Zion," the traditional synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. Throughout the centuries, Jews have maintained a presence in the Land, in greater or lesser numbers uninterrupted contact with Jews abroad has enriched the cultural, spiritual and intellectual life of both communities.
The Jewish national idea, however, was never abandoned, nor was the longing to return to their homeland. Immigration to Israel: Table of Contents| Law of Return| Immigration Statisticsįollowing their expulsion and after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE, the majority of the Jews were dispersed throughout the world.
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