JERUSALEM August 16, 2026 — The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) has updated its All Israel Database (AID) search tool to feature simple indicators showing the number of potential matching records found on JewishGen and Gesher Galicia websites.
This update utilizes an API (Application Programming Interface) connection to display record counts across platforms, allowing researchers to see if additional relevant data exists on the other sites, without transferring or sharing records between the organizations.
This release fulfills a pending integration milestone from a previous agreement with JewishGen. Additionally, a new mutual agreement with Gesher Galicia means that users searching the Gesher Galicia platform will also see a counter indicating how many potential matching records are available within IGRA’s database.
Practical Benefits for Researchers
Because families frequently migrated across borders, crucial family documents are rarely located in just one regional archive. A researcher looking for a relative within IGRA’s Ottoman or British Mandate collections may have family branches that remained in Eastern Europe. By displaying the number of matching results available on JewishGen and Gesher Galicia directly on the search page, users are immediately alerted to external resources they might otherwise have overlooked, with a direct link prompting them to continue their research on those specific platforms.
About the Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA)
The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) is the largest Jewish genealogy society. Through its primary search engine, the All Israel Database (AID), this volunteer-led organization hosts over 4 million records spanning the Ottoman Administration, British Mandate, and Israeli Administration periods. IGRA specializes in scanning, indexing, and uniquely transliterating names between Hebrew and English, allowing researchers worldwide to navigate records regardless of language barriers. Website: www.genealogy.org.il
For a guided tour of how to search the database visit https://vimeo.com/1101919119
Gesher Galicia
Gesher Galicia is a non-profit organization dedicated to Jewish genealogical research for the former Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia (modern-day western Ukraine and southeastern Poland). It digitizes and indexes unique historical records, including vital statistics, tax registers, and school lists. Website: geshergalicia.org
JewishGen
An affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, JewishGen is a free global resource for Jewish genealogy, maintaining an ecosystem of more than 30 million historical records, translation tools, and research divisions. Website: jewishgen.org
