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Aliyahu Research

Barriers Register

This register exists to make the problems olim run into countable and owned, so they can be fixed. It is not a list of who is to blame. Each entry names the body that can fix it, shows the best official figures with their sources, records the fixes already on the table and says plainly what nobody has measured yet.

Version 0 publishes 4 of the 22 problems in our research register: the ones whose key facts come from the State Comptroller, the Knesset Research and Information Center, a ministry or a national research institute. The other 18 are listed below with the reason. Every responsible body is sent its entry when it is published and can reply or ask for a correction at any time; replies are published in full with the entry. From version 1, a new finding goes to the institution 10 working days before it is published.

Version 0, published 2026-10-15

B01

Licensing in the health professions

OpenEvidence grade: A (Recent official or primary figures)Confidence: High

Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals trained abroad must be licensed in Israel before they can practise. Depending on the profession that means an exam, supervised practice or both, plus Hebrew. The routes differ by profession and the process takes time, so trained clinicians can spend months or years outside their field.

The figures

Status

Open Announced; no public figure shows whether it is in use.

Fixes on record

What we could not find

  • No published licensing pass rates for olim in any health profession for 2023 to 2025.
  • No official average time from arrival to licence; press reports give different ranges.
  • Whether the October 2024 pre-arrival route is in use, and by how many people.

B04

Hebrew access: ulpan places, waiting lists and teachers

OpenEvidence grade: A (Recent official or primary figures)Confidence: Medium

Every new adult oleh is entitled to a first-level ulpan. When arrivals surge, places and teachers run short and olim wait. A long wait can outlast the months of support meant to carry a household through ulpan, which forces a choice between learning Hebrew and earning a living.

The figures

Status

Open Announced; no public figure shows whether it is in use.

Fixes on record

  • A pay framework for ulpan teachers, ulpan teaching recognised as an internship year and soldier-teachers and national-service volunteers assigned to ulpanim.

    Proposed by: Inter-ministerial committee of the Ministries of Aliyah and Integration and of Education (December 2022)

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Ulpan teachers and employment conditions (in Hebrew), 2023-01-15. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; the English title is our translation.

  • Digital and hybrid Hebrew courses, more vouchers and competition among ulpan operators.

    Proposed by: Strategic plan prepared for the Ministry and the Jewish Agency, as cited by the Knesset Research and Information Center

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Ulpan teachers and employment conditions (in Hebrew), 2023-01-15. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; the English title is our translation.

What we could not find

  • No waiting-list figures for 2024 to 2026 were found.
  • Whether the recommended pay framework for ulpan teachers was ever agreed.
  • The current rule on when an ulpan voucher can be used: sources disagree, so confirm with the Ministry.

B06

Emotional and mental health support

Under discussionEvidence grade: B (A credible survey or a dated primary source)Confidence: Medium

Aliyah is a major life change. Olim can find it hard to get emotional or mental health support in a language they speak, and many who need help do not use any. Children who arrive mid-school and the large 2022 wave are the most studied.

The figures

Status

Fixes on record

What we could not find

  • No official figure for how many olim use mental health services.
  • The survey covers 2022 arrivals from the former Soviet Union only; no comparable data for other origins.

B07

Immigrant children at school: Hebrew hours, payments and dropout

OpenEvidence grade: A (Recent official or primary figures)Confidence: Medium

Children who arrive mid-school enter Hebrew-language classes. Schools receive dedicated Hebrew hours and payments for immigrant pupils, but whether the hours are used for Hebrew is not tracked, some payments do not arrive and dropout is higher than for Israeli-born pupils.

The figures

  • About 54,800 immigrant pupils were enrolled in Israeli schools in 2023.

    Immigrant pupils. Evidence grade A.

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

  • In 2022/23, 10,438 pupils were entitled to dedicated Hebrew lessons, about 80% more than a year earlier: 13,959 weekly hours costing about NIS 123 million.

    Pupils entitled to dedicated Hebrew hours. Evidence grade A.

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

  • The Ministry of Education had no data on whether schools actually use the dedicated hours to teach Hebrew.

    Dedicated Hebrew hours. Evidence grade A.

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

  • 1,252 foreign-born immigrant pupils (2.8%) dropped out of secondary school without moving to another framework.

    Foreign-born immigrant pupils in secondary school. Evidence grade A.

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

  • A 2018/19 Ministry control check found that 14% of eligible primary pupils received no absorption payment to their school at all, and 20% of those paid received the wrong amount.

    Eligible immigrant primary pupils (2018/19, the latest check published). Evidence grade B.

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

Status

  • The paper found one supervisory post in the division responsible for immigrant pupils. We found no later public report showing that use of the Hebrew hours is now monitored.

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

Fixes on record

  • Track how schools use the dedicated Hebrew hours and strengthen supervision of immigrant pupils. This follows from the findings; it is not a formal recommendation of the paper.

    Proposed by: Aliyahu Research, drawing on the Knesset Research and Information Center findings

    Official or primary sourceKnesset Research and Information Center: Rights of immigrant pupils (in Hebrew), 2023-02-21. Numbers matched exactly against the Hebrew document; descriptive findings rely on our reading of the Hebrew. The English title is our translation.

What we could not find

  • Dropout and Hebrew-hours figures after 2023.
  • Outcomes for the children of the 2022 arrivals.

Held back from this version, and why

These problems are real and documented in our research, but their key facts do not yet meet the publishing bar on the method page. If you hold an official source for one of them, please send it.

  • B02Licensing outside health (law, accounting, psychology, engineering, social work)The key facts are ministry statements reported in the press. The government decisions themselves are not yet linked.
  • B03Underemployment and job accessThe headline figures come from advocacy surveys. The one primary source found ranks employment as the most urgent need but gives no rate. Held until an official or peer-reviewed employment figure is linked.
  • B05Hebrew for working olim and professional HebrewPress reports and a 2016 policy report only.
  • B08Banking: opening accounts and transferring moneyThe figures come from an advocacy group survey published as a blog post. No regulator data linked yet.
  • B09Credit history and financingNo measurement found.
  • B10Housing cost and the change to rent assistanceThe before and after amounts come from press reports. The rule change needs to be linked to the government decision or the Ministry rules page.
  • B11Elderly olim: pensions and public housingThe key figures are undated or come from advocacy sources.
  • B12Health system entry and insurance windowsThe figure is Knesset research reported in the press; the research paper itself is not yet linked.
  • B13Status, documents and eligibility checksPress reports only, with no official waiting-time data.
  • B14Jewish status, the Rabbinate and marriageA politically sensitive question where the figures found come from advocacy groups and the press. Held for official court statistics and review by a balanced advisory board. When published it will set out the options on record and their trade-offs, with no position.
  • B15Legal uncertainty for family members who are not Jewish by halachaPolitically sensitive and not measured. Will report measurable effects only, with no position on the Law of Return.
  • B16Tax and reporting complexitySourced to practitioners and the press. The statutes and the Tax Authority circular need to be linked directly. The 2026 tax exemption is covered, with sources, on its own Aliyahu page.
  • B17Converting a driving licenceNo measured figures.
  • B18Information spread across many offices, and inconsistent answersNo measured figures.
  • B19Belonging, hostility and discriminationThe main figure comes from an advocacy survey, and the official findings found concern a long-settled community. Held for review by a balanced advisory board.
  • B20Spouse and family integrationThe only measurement found is from 1989.
  • B21Returning residents: benefits and the health waiting periodKnesset research reported in the press; the research paper itself is not yet linked.
  • B22War and security displacementAdvocacy and press sources only.

Disclosure

Aliyahu's tools and guides are free, with no ads. Its founder also offers a paid one-to-one review, marked as paid wherever it appears. Research is never paid for: nobody can pay to be included, left out or ranked. The paid review never shapes a finding.

Corrections and replies

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