Jewish immigration to Israel has historically been the backbone of the Zionist enterprise, but in recent years there have been almost as many Israelis leaving the country as new immigrants coming in. That trend might be changing as a new program aimed at encouraging German Jews to immigrate to Israel has been gathering steam, with a fair number of German Jewish teenagers making the move without their parents so that they can complete high school here and learn Hebrew before joining the IDF. Hillel Hillman, the principal at the Kadoorie youth village in the Lower Galilee who has traveled to Germany to meet with Jews interested in making Aliyah, said families traveled hundreds of miles to meet IDF officials and to get more details about the education system in Israel. Meanwhile, fourteen young immigrants graduated from the Bahad 1 training base near Mitzpe Ramon on Wednesday, joining hundreds of other newly commissioned second lieutenants who will form the c ore of the IDF leadership for years to come. "Even before I made aliyah, I knew that I wanted to come to Israel to be an officer,” said Shalom Bar-Eretz, who moved to Israel alone from Nevada in 2005. Other new immigrants who graduated included fighter pilots, field intelligence specialists and other highly skilled positions. The growing numbers of immigrants among new officers reflects "the integration of olim into Israeli society as a whole and specifically into the army," an IDF official said.

Young Jews making Aliyah, joining IDF

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