The past few weeks have been disturbing for us as Jews and Israelis. First, there was Matan Hodorov's television series "The New Yordim," about young Israelis who leave the country for greener pastures.
Then there was the Pew Research Center survey of American Jews that revealed a 58 percent intermarriage rate. Then there was the outpouring of responses to Finance Minister Yair Lapid's comments that he has no sympathy for Israelis who choose to live abroad because of high housing prices.
The assimilation statistics for North American Jews may have captured headlines, but neither I nor the organization I head -- Nefesh B'Nefesh -- were surprised.
For years it has been our business to promote aliyah to Israel. We hold dozens of seminars yearly to reconnect U.S. Jews with their Jewishness and the Jewish homeland.
We work tirelessly to provide them with information about immigration to Israel and putting down roots in a new country despite their strong ties to their birth countries.
As if it were not enough that we are losing Jews, this week we learned about the extent to which we are losing Israelis.
The phenomenon of Israelis who emigrate should concern all Israelis and Jews. In my assessment, there are about a million Israelis living abroad for various and sundry reasons. These are not society's most vulnerable members, but some of the most talented and successful, who rather than contributing to Israel's economy, choose to do so in another country.
In 2007, as director-general of the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, I brought a plan to the government to bring back thousands of Israeli emigres from the United States and Europe.
The campaign included tax benefits, help with finding employment, accelerated Hebrew studies for children, subsidized National Insurance taxes, and individualized counseling for every returning resident.
As a result, tens of thousands of Israelis returned to Israel. All of us benefit from their return: They invest in new businesses in Israel, employ thousands of workers, reduce unemployment, consume staple products, contribute millions to the gross national product and serve as an engine of economic growth.
But bringing new immigrants and Israeli emigres to Israel is not enough. We must work to ensure that young people stay in Israel and do not depart for greener pastures.
When I headed an interministerial team to bring Israeli scientists home, I was concerned not only with bringing back those who had left. I told the government that we must do all we can to prevent Israelis from leaving the country to begin with, so we do not lost our most capable citizens.
This is still my credo today. It is incumbent upon Israeli governments to make life easier for citizens, so they can live here in dignity, acquire a roof over their heads and see their future in the state of Israel.
Every government ministry must redouble its efforts to help citizens, lower the cost of living and find a rapid solution to the housing problem. Nowadays, purchasing an apartment has become a pipe dream for many young people who served in the military and fulfilled their duty to the country.
This week I once again heard the insulting expression "a debris of weaklings," uttered by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1976 to describe Israelis who emigrate. I felt like we had regressed to the dark ages, the days before the influx of returning residents, who returned because they finally felt that the country truly wanted them and was willing to offer significant incentives rather than holding them in contempt.
The returning residents are joined by thousands of new immigrants each year. Together, we are fulfilling the prophetic vision of "your children will return to their own border" (Jeremiah 31:16). They are a source of security, economic and political strength. Let's bring them back.
Erez Halfon is a former director-general of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and the current vice chairman of Nefesh B'Nefesh.
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