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Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah flight lands at Ben Gurion this morning, signaling a wave of hundreds of new immigrants expected in coming months.
38 Olim landed this morning as part of a Nefesh B’Nefesh Group Aliyah Flight, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA. This flight arrives at a time when Aliyah interest is at a record-high, and just after the Jerusalem Municipality granted Nefesh B’Nefesh a permanent Aliyah Center in Jerusalem.
In June 2020 alone, 25,435 phone calls were received at Nefesh B’Nefesh’s informational call center, in comparison to 5,349 in June 2019, a 365% increase. Additionally, 1,350 Aliyah applications were submitted to the organization in June 2020, in comparison to 399 in June 2019, signaling a 238% increase.
"I am delighted to welcome the new North American Olim, who join more than 7,000 Jews from around the world who have made Aliyah in recent months. Despite the challenges the pandemic has caused, the State of Israel has always been and will continue to remain open for Aliyah, during the best of times as well as times of crisis,” said Minister of Aliyah and Integration, MK Pnina Tamano-Shata. “There has recently been a significant increase in the volume of Aliyah interest, and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration is prioritizing a broad national plan to welcome the upcoming wave of Aliyah in the next few years."
The youngest Oleh on today’s group Aliyah flight was four years old, and the oldest was 84. The Olim hail from New York, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Colorado and Minnesota. They will be moving to Jerusalem, Tzfat, Tel Aviv, Petach Tikva, Beit Shemesh, Rechovot, Modiin, Rishon LeZion, Rosh Ha’Ayin, Kibbutz Alumim, Kibbutz Gesher Haziv and Kibbutz Magen.
“I applaud these resilient Olim who have arrived at a challenging time and stayed the course, committed to their plans and dreams,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “We are working tirelessly with our government counterparts to ensure that Aliyah endures and to find solutions for the difficulties the current circumstances have created.”
