Bienvenue!
Two planeloads of French immigrants arrive to a Presidential welcome.
In one of his first capacities as State President, Shimon Peres greeted two planeloads of new immigrants who arrived from France this past summer. Despite his fluent French, he proclaimed, “In the Jewish State, I will speak in Hebrew.” The crowd roared in approval. “This is first and foremost, an ideological aliyah,” smiled Arielle di-Porto, Immigration and Absorption Department’s Director of the Franco- European Desk.
“There was one plane from Paris and another from Lyons and southern France,” explains Arielle. “I would say the majority are young families, and almost all of them have had contact with the Jewish Agency in France. Despite a greater feeling of security for Jews with the election of Sarkozy, the aliyah numbers remain consistent. The large number of immigrants and their preparedness attest to the continued hard work of our shlichim abroad. Most have been to our fairs or activities, and all of them, of course, were processed by shlichim.”
Upon their arrival, the immigrants were furnished with identity cards and immigration documents, forestalling harried visits to the Ministry of Interior. “We even arranged for them to bypass passport control. They arrived directly to Terminal 1, where they were greeted by the blowing of a shofar, an army music troupe, a row of soldiers with flags, Chief Rabbi Metzger, and of course, the President of Israel, Shimon Peres.”
Peres, whose dapper appearance was particularly appreciated by the French crowd, admitted to the newcomers that living in Israel might at times, “prove difficult, but it certainly won’t be boring.” The majority of arrivals were soon whisked off by family, friends or taxis to Ashdod, Netanya and Jerusalem, to begin what promises to be an adventure.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Danny Liverant for his devoted service to the cause of Aliyah and Klitah as co-chair of our departmental committee. After many years of intensive involvement in the field of Jewish Zionist Education, Danny came to the Immigration and Absorption Department with vigor and vision. He consistently lent his leadership and determination to strengthening the ability of the Jewish Agency to bring more olim to Israel and to facilitate their successful Klitah. The Department went through difficult times in the last few years and Danny’s leadership was instrumental in maintaining the continuity and stability necessary to move towards significant accomplishments. Thank you, Danny.
Paula Edelstein, Co-Chair, Immigration and Absorption Committee |
“In this new year, we aim to redouble our efforts to reach out to new populations in the Western World; to find ways to encourage them to consider aliyah, and to make it possible for a much wider group of people to put aliyah on their agenda. We will be creative about offering opportunties for different target populations to consider the option of aliyah.”
Paula Edelstein
Co-Chair, Immigration and Absorption Committee |
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