Personal experience of an Israeli emigrant: I had faced difficulties there, but I never wanted to leave

Our former compatriot Svetlana Fishman shared her impressions of Israel in the popular group "It's Time time to shove off", where she and her family moved back in 1993. First, Svetlana gave objective facts about her second homeland, and then paid tribute to her emotions:

ISRAEL OBJECTIVELY IN BRIEF:

Living Standards (HDI): 19th PLACE between Austria and Japan (Russia - 52nd place).

Minimum wage: 13th PLACE between Ireland and Japan (Russia - 32nd).

Average median salary: 21 PLACES between France and Belgium.

(Russia - 76th place).

The unemployment rate is 4.6% (Russia 5.7%, Germany 4.3%).

GDP per capita: 19th PLACE between Belgium and Canada (Russia 65th).

Higher education: three Israeli universities 90th, 92th, 94th PLACES (Russia - 97, 350, 450 places).

Happiness Level: 12 PLACE between Australia and Germany

PROS OF LIVING IN ISRAEL:

1. The unbearable ease of repatriation: paying for an air ticket or cruise, a cash gift, free language courses, a lot of different programs.
2. There is really a lot of work in the country, a wide range of in-demand specialties, good unemployment benefits, ease and safety of starting and running a business, opportunities for unlimited career growth.
3. Citizenship and passport to 163 countries (specify) from the first day.
4. Lack of anti-Semitism.
5. Decent average standard of living, MINIMUM salary, including without knowledge of Hebrew - 29.12 shekels (about $ 8.8) per hour.
6. Low street crime rate. General feeling of freedom and security.
7. Three magnificent seas to swim in from April to October: Mediterranean, Red and Dead, endless sandy beaches that you can walk on all day.
8. Paradise climate 9 months of the year: from October to June. In summer, conditioned air EVERYWHERE.
9. Excellent food (INCLUDING NON-KOSHER), many cafes and restaurants for all tastes.
10. High quality modern medicine.
11. Open, benevolent people, 15% of the population are Russian-speaking, the problem of communication and friendship does not exist.
12. Democracy, freedom of conscience, gender equality, social security, lack of age discrimination, police diktat, distance between people of different status and wealth. High tolerance for poor Hebrew proficiency. Lack of dress codes, sycophancy and show-off. The widest possible boundaries are "decent / indecent, accepted / not accepted". Vaccination is NOT FORCED !!!, a million Israelis have not been vaccinated to this day due to banal reluctance.
13. Great attitude towards children. An effective adaptation system for children with special needs.
14. Excellent roads and infrastructure, clean equipped beaches, short distances.
15. Barrier-free urban environment, taking care of the convenience of people with disabilities at all levels, up to public lifts on city beaches.
16. Cheap flights and availability of travel around the world. In the prehistoric era, the average Israeli traveled a couple of times a year for a week to Europe, to his prehistoric homeland, where to go.
17. Inexpensive quality higher education.
18. Opportunity to continue life and career in other countries.
19. Wonderful museums, theaters, concerts, natural and historical attractions for every pocket and taste.

MINUSES OF LIVING IN ISRAEL:

1. THREE HOT MONTHS A YEAR: July to September (but there are air conditioners everywhere!).
2. The need to formalize marriage abroad for non-Jews.
3. COMPARATIVE high cost of housing and cars.
4. It is impossible to leave Israel abroad by car or train, only by plane or boat.
5. Conflicts with neighbors, especially in areas adjacent to Gaza.
6. Poorly developed public transport ON THE PERIPHERALS.
7. Saturday: public transport does not work, many establishments are closed (! NOT ALL, NOT IN ALL CITIES !, there are minibuses).
8. Paid maternity leave - only 3 months, + 3 months at your own expense, while keeping your job. State kindergartens only from 3 years old, work until 16:00, until 3 years old - only private.
9. In general, a low level of service.
10. Low standard of living DURING REPATRIATION IN RELEASE AGE.
11. Military service for immigrants without children aged 18-21. If you wish, you can go through an alternative service in the hospital, or roll it off. (Army in Israel without hazing, weekends are most often at home, service in military units for girls - only at personal request).

I want to clarify the cons: despite the high cost, 70% of Israelis live in their own houses and apartments, the average family has at least one car. Saturday: Non-kosher pubs, restaurants, supermarkets, museums, parks and cinemas are OPEN - we use. I do not recommend repatriation at retirement age WITHOUT CHILDREN, old-age benefits (without earned pension) are miserable, living a full life on them, without support, is extremely difficult. Local conflicts with neighbors: this is NOT Chechnya and NOT Ukraine with thousands of dead !!! Terrorist attacks are NOT New York with 3 thousand people killed in one day !!! In the last publicized conflict, which lasted exactly 7 days, 10 people out of 9 million of the population died, 7 of whom CONSCIOUSLY DID NOT FOLLOW THE RULES: they did not enter a safe room, 2 people were very elderly, fell unsuccessfully on the way to the shelter. Actually, observing the rules and living in an apartment with a security room, you are 99.99% protected. I live in the center of the country, during the week we went into a safe room 5 times for 10 minutes. Such large-scale conflicts happen every 7-8 years. However, in the areas adjacent to Gaza (Sderot, Ashkelon), the situation is more serious, and I recommend not to settle there. The most favorable cities in this sense are Netanya and Herzliya.

ISRAEL SUBJECTIVELY:

We repatriated in 1993 from Ukraine with our 8-year-old son, we live and work in Petah Tikva (a suburb of Tel Aviv), I am an architect, my husband is an electronics engineer. We have been working in our specialty since the first year.

The first apartment was bought a year after repatriation, taking a bank loan for 95% of the cost of the apartment. With the rise in wages, housing conditions were improved. We have been living in our own house for about seven years, we have our own architectural business. Our family of 4 adults has two cars.

At the time of repatriation, her husband's parents were 57 years old. They have not worked a day in Israel, to this day they live on old-age benefits, they rent a 3-room apartment.

My employees are 28 years old (two children, 3 years in the country), rent a 4-room apartment, look after an apartment for purchase, have a new car.

My husband's sister is a teacher of physics and mathematics, since the second year of repatriation she has been working as a teacher at the school. I bought a 4-room apartment 7 years after repatriation.

The families of our relatives are scattered all over the world: Germany, USA, France. Almost none of them work in their specialty. A plumbing engineer worked in a bank, as a dentist's assistant, as a clerk in various organizations. Automotive engineer, filmmaker and artist retrained into programmers. Electrical engineers worked as electricians at a construction site, as plumbers at a factory. A process engineer took over the packaging department at the plant. The director of the design bureau and the electric transport engineer opened a trading company: they sell German goods to Ukraine. And only one relative - a nurse, has confirmed her qualifications, completed training, and works as an operating nurse in a US hospital. We have been everywhere, trying on life in these countries, but nowhere have we felt such warmth of people, comfort and joy of life as in Israel. There were many difficulties, but I never wanted to leave, and I don’t want to..."