Ukraine and Israel: Economies of Migration. Why a Repatriation Policy Could Be the Key to Bringing Ukrainians Home — and Rebuilding the Country

Oleg Vyshniakov, businessman, Honorary Consul of the State of Israel in the Western region of Ukraine

A few days ago, Ukraine received a piece of news that could easily have gone unnoticed: the country’s current population is estimated at around 35 million people. This figure is not simply a demographic snapshot. It is an economic X-ray revealing the scale of the losses, the risks to recovery, and—most importantly—the direction Ukraine must begin moving in right now.

While we debate reconstruction plans, billions in donor support, and investment forums, the economy itself is signaling a different priority: the most valuable asset is people. And this is precisely what Ukraine lacks today.

Millions of citizens have been lost to war, displacement, and occupation. And even if international partners commit unprecedented funding, no economic model works without a population that creates demand, pays taxes, launches businesses, raises children, and produces value.

This is where Ukraine can learn from a country that has spent decades building its economy by bringing people home: Israel.

 

Israel: a nation that built its economy on repatriation

Israel is a unique case—a country living under constant security threats, economic shocks, and demographic waves, yet one that managed to do what few others could: turn migration into a strategic economic resource.

In the 1990s, Israel absorbed more than one million repatriates from the post-Soviet space. For a small country, this cohort accounted for nearly 20% of the population. But instead of seeing this as a strain on the system, the state did something extraordinary: it invested in these people.

Integration programs, financial incentives, accelerated diploma recognition, language training, employment support—these were not social policies but economic policies. And the outcome was the “Israeli economic miracle”: the rise of high-tech, innovation clusters, booming exports, and an influx of global capital.

Israel proved that bringing people home is not a humanitarian gesture, but an economic strategy.

 

Ukraine needs its own repatriation policy — and it needs it now

Ukraine’s challenge is even more dramatic. Our demographic shock was not gradual, but sudden and massive.

Millions left the country. Between 4 and 5+ million Ukrainians now live in the EU, most of them women and children. Many have integrated fully into European economies, with schools, healthcare systems, and social networks.

The crucial truth is this: people will not return on their own.

There is no historical precedent for spontaneous mass return. It happens only when conditions make coming back economically, socially, and psychologically favorable.

For Ukraine, the stakes are enormous:

• Labor markets: without millions returning, reconstruction will take decades.
   
• GDP growth: even 1.5–2 million returnees could add +5–7% GDP in just a few years.
   
• Investment: investors do not enter economies where talent is scarce.
   
• Consumption: people = money circulating domestically.
   
• Demographics: without young people returning, all reforms become cosmetic.
   

This is not a social issue — this is the core of economic planning.

 

Which parts of Israel’s model Ukraine can adapt

Ukraine doesn’t need to copy Israel’s model, but it can adapt its principles:

1. Financial incentives for return

• partial compensation for relocation,
   
• tax benefits during the first years back,
   
• affordable mortgages,
   
• grants for starting a business,
   
• targeted programs for professionals in shortage sectors.
   

2. A “fast-track integration window”

• accelerated recognition of qualifications,
   
• targeted programs for doctors, engineers, teachers, IT professionals,
   
• support for integrating children into schools.
   

3. Diaspora economic diplomacy

Israel treated its diaspora not only as a community, but as:

• investors,
   
• ambassadors,
   
• innovation partners.
   

Ukraine must build similar mechanisms: not “diaspora gatherings,” but diaspora investment networks.

4. A business environment tailored to returnees

Israel helped repatriates launch companies in the 90s.

Ukraine can replicate this with:

• microloans,
   
• startup incentives,
   
• simplified regulations,
   
• local innovation centers.
   

5. Housing as a core element of repatriation

All successful repatriation programs contain a housing component.

Ukraine will rebuild housing anyway — part of it should be allocated to structured repatriation.

 

Why now is the critical moment

• The window of opportunity is short.
  
  After 3–5 years abroad, people integrate to a degree that makes return unlikely.
   
• Mobility is still high.
  
  Most Ukrainians abroad have not yet fully disconnected from home.
   
• Reconstruction planning is happening now.
  
  A repatriation policy must be built into Ukraine’s recovery architecture, not added later as an afterthought.
   

Without people there is no economy.

Without economy there is no reconstruction.

 

Why Israel can be an ideal partner in designing Ukraine’s repatriation strategy

Israel has unmatched expertise in:

• building institutions that welcome people back,
   
• integrating culturally diverse populations,
   
• creating economic incentives for return,
   
• linking repatriation to innovation and labor markets,
   
• translating demographic strategy into GDP growth.
   

Ukraine and Israel could launch:

• joint demographic research,
   
• shared policy platforms,
   
• bilateral return programs for Ukrainians currently in Israel,
   
• repatriation management training for Ukrainian institutions.
   

This partnership could become strategic, not symbolic.

 

Ukraine can repeat Israel’s trajectory — but only if it brings its people home

Israel’s experience proves something fundamental:

a country may be small, vulnerable, and under threat — but if it brings its citizens back, it builds innovation, investment, growth, and a future.

Ukraine stands at a crossroads.

The figure 35 million is not a verdict — it is a warning.

It tells us how much we have lost, and how quickly we must act to reverse it.

Economies begin with people.

Reconstruction begins with people.

And repatriation is not about patriotism — it is a strategy.

Without it, Ukraine cannot become a strong, competitive state in the decades ahead.