OCCUPIED JERUSA-LEM: More than 31,000 people from Ukraine and Russia have emigrated to Israel since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, a massive increase from a similar pre-war period, official data showed on Wednesday.

Between Feb. 24 and July 31, Israel received 12,175 new immigrants from Ukraine and 18,891 from Russia, the Central Bureau of Statistics said, citing data from the Immigration Ministry.

That’s 318% higher than a similar period in 2019 when a total of 9,774 new immigrants arrived from the two countries.

Most of the immigrants from Russia and Ukraine are Jews, but some may only have close relatives who are Jewish. Under Israel’s Law of Return, a person needs at least one Jewish grandparent to be entitled for immediate citizenship.—Reuters