The 200 olim (new immigrants) who arrived in the course of one day – Tuesday, Oct. 13 – were greeted and processed in a special ceremony in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon.
The olim arrived on seven different flights from countries on four different continents: South Africa, Mexico, England, France, Belgium, Turkey, Switzerland and Russia. Approximately half the new immigrants are from Russia, from where Aliyah is increasing for the first time in a decade; the jump could be as high as 20%, according to Jewish Agency estimates.
Asked what percentage of Russian immigrants can be assumed to be Jewish, Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz told Israel National News, “They are all eligible under the Law of Return, as determined by the official Nativ agency [in the framework of the Prime Minister’s Office]. Regarding claims that we seek out supposed Jews under every tree and brush, that is not the case. Our emissaries generally seek out those who send their children to Jewish Agency camps and the like – because those who choose not to take advantage of quality educational programs offered in Russia by Evangelicals and Orthodox Christians, but instead go to a Jewish camp, can be assumed to be either Jewish or of Jewish ancestry. If they then want to make Aliyah, their eligibility must be approved by Nativ.”
The special welcome ceremony was held at the Jewish Agency Courtyard on King George St. in Jerusalem this afternoon (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m. Participating will be Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sopha Landver and top officials of the Jewish Agency Moshe Vigdor, Haggai Merom, and Eli Cohen.
The ceremony was not be held at the Western Wall plaza, where it was originally scheduled, because of a new policy mandating only religious ceremonies at the holy site.
The new immigrants spent the night following their arrival in the Shalom Hotel in Jerusalem`s Bayit VeGan neighborhood. Each of the new immigrant families will be linked with a veteran family to help them along, in the framework of the Jewish Agency's new absorption program called "Babayit Beyahad" (At Home Together).
Wednesday was a special "absorption day" for them, in which they will be able to open bank accounts and register for health funds and National Insurance in a centralized and orderly fashion. This obviates some of the difficulties new immigrants often face. The Agency has begun these centralized "absorption days" over the past year, hoping to significantly expand the number of new immigrants who benefit from this project.
The olim received their new Israeli identity cards at the Wednesday ceremony, just a day after their arrival in Israel.
(Source: Arutz Sheva)
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