Aliyah minister seeking to increase resources for aliyah potential
Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata says immigrant numbers from North America can be increased due to ‘real desire’ for aliyah on continent
By JEREMY SHARONAliyah and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shatah touring the Jewish Agency’s Global Center in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood(photo credit: NAGEH MELSAH)
Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata has said there is a need to increase the resources and manpower involved in the effort to increase aliyah in wake of a large spike in the number of aliyah applications.Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, she noted however that the five-year national plan for aliyah drafted by her ministry is currently stuck due to the political fight over the state budget.Tamano-Shata also said the potential for aliyah from North America was particularly great and that the current numbers of new immigrants from the US and Canada could be improved.The minister was speaking following a tour of the Jewish Agency’s Global Center in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, which provides various services for potential immigrants, who can call in for advice and assistance from their home countries, as well as absorption help to immigrants.Tamano-Shata reviewed the call centers operating in English, French and Spanish and the data on response times and answer rates to incoming calls.The minister also took the opportunity to phone an aliyah candidate to tell him that his application had been approved.Tamano-Shata called the applicant in his home country of Argentina, where it was 5:30 a.m., to tell him the good news, and promised that he would be well taken care of upon arrival in Israel. She praised the center for its work, although added she wished to see the answer rate raised even higher.The minister also said resources and manpower must be allocated in accordance with the countries that have seen the highest increase in aliyah applications in recent months.In June, there was a 566% increase in the number of people in North America opening aliyah files compared with the same month in 2019, and a 327% rise for July.
There were also huge increases in France of 211%, 207%, and 122% in May, June and July over 2019 figures, and significant increases in Latin America, especially from Argentina, which is contending with an economic crisis on top of COVID-19.“We need to increase the rate of potential immigrants becoming actual immigrants. These are not normal times, this is the money time,” said Tamano-Shata.She noted that the government is planning to ramp up air travel in and out of Israel in the coming weeks from safe countries, and said her ministry was preparing for this development that should increase the rate of aliyah, which has declined in 2020 due to the shortage of flights and other complications caused by the pandemic.Speaking about immigration from North America, the minister said interest in aliyah had risen because of both “pull and push factors,” and said there was a lot of “real will” among Jews to come to the Jewish state.“Nefesh B’Nefesh is doing good work but we can increase the numbers, she said. “We need to increase the number of emissaries there, bolster the consulates and the work here in the global center.”Aliyah from all over the world is significantly down over 2019 numbers, due to the lack of flights as well as a period following the COVID-19 outbreak and the formation of the new government when the Interior Ministry stopped issuing aliyah visas, although this has now been resolved.Some 10,330 immigrants came from January to July, compared to 19,943 in the same period in 2019.Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog said the rise in interest in aliyah due to the pandemic was a development Israel must not miss.“It is a sign of a future, blessed aliyah and an historic opportunity that we must prepare for, together with the Aliyah and Integration Ministry and the government,” said Herzog, praising Tamano-Shata for her work with the Jewish Agency.And on Tuesday, 50 immigrants arrived from Mexico on a special charter flight organized by the Jewish Agency and the Hanoar Hatzioni youth movement, with support from Keren Hayesod.Another 150 Hanoar Hatzioni graduates were also on the flight, who will take part in Masa programs.All passengers will immediately enter quarantine for two weeks, after which they will join their programs, including volunteering on kibbutzim and with Magen David Adom, among other opportunities.
