Hundreds Of New American Immigrants Landing In Israel Welcomed In Ceremony Headlined By Olmert

A chartered flight of 235 North American immigrants from landed in Israel on Monday morning, greeted by a festive welcoming ceremony featuring dancing, torah scrolls, top Israeli leaders and, of course, some shofar blowing. The flight was the fifth and final chartered planeload of new immigrants this summer organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization which facilitates aliyah from North America and England. Over the course of the summer, Nefesh B’Nefesh has brought over 2,000 North American and British immigrants to Israel, on five specifically chartered aliyah flights. But this group of new immigrants had a special surprise in store as Israel’s top political leaders including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Likud Knesset Member Gilad Erdan came to the ceremony to express their heartfelt welcome. The ceremony comes amid months of intense negotiations between Israel’s government-run aliyah organization, the Jewish Agency, and the privately run Nefesh B'Nefesh aliyah organization, for rights over North American aliyah. Finally this week the two organizations reached unprecedented agreement in which Nefesh B’Nefesh will handle marketing and promotion, while the Jewish Agency will handle the Aliyah eligibility process and pay the airfare of every new immigrant-marking a new step forward in the progress of North American aliyah. 09/08/08