Nearly 300 New York area residents who will be moving to Israel this summer attended the Jewish Agency’s Olim Farewell Reception yesterday (July 2) in Manhattan.

Bidding the olim farewell were Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman, and, significantly, heads of all three main religious streams: Rabbi Eric  Yoffie, President of Union of Reform Judaism, Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union and Rabbi Robert Golub, Executive Director of Mercaz USA of the conservative movement.

In all, some 700 residents of the New York area will move to Israel this summer and the Jewish Agency anticipates that immigration from North America will increase between 5 and 10 percent this year, marking the highest Aliyah from North America in 25 years. In 2006, 3,200 residents of the US and Canada formally became Israeli citizens, the highest figure since 1983.