Yad L’Achim Calls for Anti-Assimilation Campaign in Israel

At a cost of more than $50 million, Israel’s Absorption Ministry launched a controversial campaign aimed at convincing expatriates to return home.

The campaign, including film, newspaper, radio and billboard advertisements, warned against assimilation in America. One message was headed: Before Chanuka turns into Christmas, it’s time to return to Israel”

The campaign sparked outrage among leaders of the U.S. Jewish community who protested that demeaned non-Jewish holidays and implied that it was impossible to remain Jewish in America.

In the wake of the protest, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered that the campaign be pulled

Yad L’Achim calls on the Israeli government, which invests substantial resources to combat assimilation among Jews living abroad, to pay attention to the growing problem of assimilation in Israel. It calls on the government to invest in Jewish education and efforts to strengthen the Jewish roots of the local populace.

One of the film clips that sparked outrage among American Jews