3.2 MILLION IMMIGRANTS TO ISRAEL:

 Some 3.2 million people have immigrated to Israel since the founding of the state in 1948, according to a report released on Wed. 25 May 2016, by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The immigration figures, which reflect Aliyah from 1948 to 2015, show that immigration was heavily concentrated in two major waves: the first from 1948 through 1951, and the second from 1990 to 1999. Since the beginning of the second wave of mass immigration in 1990, when large numbers of Jews from Warsaw Pact countries made Aliyah, some 1.35 million immigrants have come to Israel, or about 42% of all Aliyah since 1948. While Aliyah in recent years has been slow – particularly since the Second Intifada – the rate of immigration has been trending upward since 2008. Last year saw a 15.7% increase in total immigration rates over 2014, with 27,908 immigrants. Since 1972, some 115,195 immigrants from the USA have made Aliyah, and the rate of American Aliyah is on the rise. According to the report, the top destinations for American immigrants are Jerusalem, which is home to 29,882 American émigrés who arrived since 1972. Tel Aviv was a distant second with 10,620. (INN)