At present 467 Norwegians are registered at the Embassy as permanent residents in Israel. Norwegian Jews comprise the largest group.
A number of institutions in Israel are run by, or connected to, Norwegians living in Israel. Beit Norvegia is a hostel in Jerusalem, which is administered by a Norwegian couple for the Christian Karmel Institute in Norway. Beit Norvegia offers weekly gatherings for Norwegians with songs, speeches and waffles. The Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Haifa, established in 1949, is also run by the Norwegian Karmel Institute.
Beit Scandinavia in Haifa was founded in 1980 by Lilly and Thorvald Tånsberg. The idea was to create a “home away from home” for Scandinavian youth working as volunteers at kibbutzim in the region. Beit Scandinavia also helps Scandinavian youth find volunteer work at kibbutzim, as well as within the Israeli social sector.
In Haifa the organisation “Norwegian Church Ministry to Israel” has established a congregation (Beit Eliahu) and administers the Ebenezer Home, apparently the only old people’s home for Messianic Jews in Israel. They also run the Caspari Center in Jerusalem and the Immanuel Church and congregation house in Tel Aviv. The Immanuel Church is also used for gatherings by Messianic Jews.
The Norwegian Pentecostal Movement is engaged in social work in Israel, notably in bringing Norwegian volunteers to a mental hospital in Jerusalem (“Eitanim”). They help with house building and restauration, improvement of the hospital’s children’s ward and building a swimming pool. The Norwegian Pentecostal Movement’s social work in Israel also includes visits by volunteers to elderly and disabled.
There are still Norwegian volunteers at Kibbutzim, but the number has gone down in the last 6 years.
During the second Intifada the number of Norwegian students at Israeli universities decreased. However, new Norwegian students still arrive to Israel every year, taking advantage of the fact that they receive grants and loans from the Norwegian state to study at international programs at Israeli universities. Every year a handful of Norwegian students are awarded scholarships for long-term studies, as well as short-term Hebrew language summer courses, under a bilateral cultural agreement.
There was a decrease in Norwegian tourists to Israel during the second Intifada. In the last year the number of Norwegian tourists has risen again. Norwegians are attracted to the warm and sunny Israeli climate; during the winter months there are weekly direct flights from Oslo to Eilat.