December 29, 2004

Two hundred and fifty immigrants from North America arrived in Israel this morning on a special El Al flight from New York chartered by the Jewish Agency for Israel, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. The group, whose immigration to Israel was a joint project of the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B'Nefesh, included religious families, aged 28-35, and 100 singles. Two holocaust survivors from Manhattan and New Jersey were also among the new immigrants. Irma Haas, 97, and her sister Hilde Meyer, 94, who were born in Germany and fled to Holland during World War II, were deported to the Berger-Belsen death camp. The sisters survived and relocated to the United States. The new immigrants have allegedly opted to live in Jerusalem, Netanya, Modi'in and Beit Shemesh.

In 2004, the number of immigrants from North America to Israel has reached a 20-year high to total almost 3,000 people. The Jewish Agency estimates that this year, approximately 22,000 immigrants will have arrived in Israel from around the world, including 10,000 from the former Soviet Union, 3,000 from France and 3,800 from Ethiopia. Israel's consul general in New York, Arye Mekel, said immigrants from the United States would constitute 15 percent of the total number of immigrants arriving in Israel this year.

© The State of Israel