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Start of mass immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union. Between 1989 and 2006, more than one million Russians emigrated to Israel, transforming the culture, high-tech industry, education system and politics of the country. Many of the well-educated new immigrants gave Israel’s developing high-tech industry a valuable boost. Migrants from the former Soviet Union now make up 15 percent of the Israeli population, and one in four staff members at Israel’s universities are native Russian speakers, with an even higher concentration in the sciences.