The program aims to bring 2,000 doctors to Israel by 2029 to help relieve the country\u2019s increasingly dire physician shortage, with support from the Marcus Foundation, the Gottesman Fund, Jewish Federations of North America, the Azrieli Foundation and the Arison Foundation.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s physician scarcity is due to a number of factors: the retirement of Russian doctors who immigrated to Israel en masse in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, a decision by the Israeli medical establishment to stop accepting medical degrees from various institutions in Eastern Europe as well as the limited number of seats in Israeli medical schools, according to Tony Gelbart, co-founder and chairman of Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael never fully adjusted for this, resulting in a bottleneck in residency and internship positions,\u201d said Tony Gelbart, whose organization facilitates Aliyah from North America. \u201cThe convergence of these factors is creating an impending crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh Co-Founders Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart at MedEx France, part of the International Medical Aliyah Program. (Shahar Azran)<\/p>\n
The International Medical Aliyah Program is bringing accredited physicians to Israel by helping speed their credentialing process and easing their immigration with concierge-style services.<\/p>\n
For many physicians, the process begins in their home countries at MedEx fairs, where they can get answers to all their questions about accreditation and immigration, meet with prospective Israeli healthcare employers and get an expedited path through the paperwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysicians interested in aliyah arrive with their diplomas and certifications in hand, some still in frames, and are licensed on the spot,\u201d Gelbart said. \u201cRather than landing in Israel and waiting nine months for paperwork and processing, physicians complete the licensing process prior to aliyah. Upon arrival, they receive citizenship and, within a week, are able to practice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The International Medical Aliyah Program also aims to help doctors find jobs and homes in Israel\u2019s periphery, where the physician shortage is even more severe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Vladimir Belkin from Yekaterinburg, a city in Russia\u2019s Ural region, came to Israel with his wife, Anastasia, also a doctor, in August 2023. Despite having a doctorate in neurology, he chose to do a four-year residency in physical rehabilitation medicine at Beersheva\u2019s Soroka Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The timing was propitious, as the need for rehabilitation services in Israel skyrocketed in the wake of the Oct. 7 war. In June, the war arrived at Belkin\u2019s own hospital, when his building sustained a direct hit from an Iranian ballistic missile.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur department was on the first floor, and most injuries were on higher floors,\u201d Belkin said. \u201cIt was a miracle none of our patients were hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the tumult, Belkin, 34, says he is thankful to be in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was the right decision because it led to changes that were good for me and my family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Keller-Baruch echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael has always felt like a home away from home,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m extremely grateful for being able to do the job that I love in a country known not just for innovation but also compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-21-26-Shahar-Azran-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Attendees at MedEx Los Angeles explore the Aliyah process and next steps to becoming licensed medical professionals in Israel through the International Medical Aliyah Program. (Shahar Azra)<\/p>\n
Fellow Canadian doctor Osnat Steiman moved to Israel in January 2024. A geriatrician, she works at Ichilov\u2019s rehabilitation center, helping mostly elderly patients recover from falls, brain bleeds and other traumatic injuries.<\/p>\n
Steiman, 42, said that moving to Israel had been a lifelong goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a strong Zionist upbringing. My mother\u2019s Israeli, and it was always part of the plan to come back to Israel,\u201d Steiman said. \u201cOf course, there are always some frustrations, but that\u2019s everywhere. In spite of everything going on here, I wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh generally focuses exclusively on immigrants from North America, its work for the International Medical Aliyah Program is global. In recent months, the organization has held MedEx events in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Sydney and Melbourne. In November last year, MedEx launched in Canada, with more than 500 attendees in Toronto and Montreal.<\/p>\n
At such events, doctors often sit for interviews with representatives of major Israeli hospitals, including Ichilov, Hadassah, Rambam, Kaplan and Galilee Medical Center, as well as Israel\u2019s four health maintenance organizations.<\/p>\n
Anesthesiologist Eugene Rappaport, 59, moved to Israel in June 2024 from Manhattan Beach, California, where he worked with patients undergoing heart and lung surgery. Now he works for Assuta, Israel\u2019s leading private hospital network. He earns less than he did in California, but Rappaport says it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy aliyah was not driven by money, but purely my desire to be a part of Israel and the joy I take in caring for our people,\u201d Rappaport said.<\/p>\n
Steiman said that doctors who move to Israel should speak serviceable Hebrew, be prepared financially and find a strong support system. The International Medical Aliyah Program can help with all those elements, and ease the daunting administrative side of things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of bureaucracy, but the second I made my application through Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh, they reached out to me,\u201d Steiman said. \u201cIt was a very smooth landing. Overall, it\u2019s been positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if she has any advice for physicians considering aliyah, Keller-Baruch said, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to make the jump. Despite all the hardships we\u2019ve experienced, these terrible things will only help us grow back stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEL AVIV \u2014 Dr. Olivia Keller-Baruch had long dreamed of working as a doctor in Israel. Originally from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43,2497],"class_list":["post-252252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-sponsored"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}